As described elsewhere, the Shadow Guard are Caitlin's personal agents, advisors, and bodyguards. She first formed them while a military advisor to Martin as a small group of councilors and companions to take on her expeditions in Shadow (the Shadows in those days consisted of Juliana, Mela, Oriana, Majida, Paige, Erika, Iolyn, Mauresha, Kyla, Rebecca, Khadija, Tahmara, and Daughter of the Moon). Since Caitlin became Lady Defender, their numbers have expanded substantially from barely a dozen to the thirty Guardswomen there are today (Linnea, Tanja, Zarifa, Francesca, Raziya, Ariana, Garen, Zocha, Delfina, and Celenara were recruited within the first few months; Naomi, Hadiya, Helene, Shannon, Zocha, Michaela, Bronwyn, and Leila came later) and they have evolved into lieutenants and messengers. They have been selected and drilled for uncompromising loyalty.
Most of the Shadow Guard are assigned to field duty with one of Amber's major military forces. These field teams are there to carry messages to and from Caitlin that are too sensitive for normal channels of communications, serve as scouts, and serve as advisors to the local commanders.
Five other Guardswomen are Caitlin's personal staff. Juliana, Linnea, and Tanja are her close companions and advisors. They can usually be found with Caitlin and are instrumental in helping set the military policy of Amber. Two others, Mela and Tahmara, are also Caitlin's near-constant companions, but they are more bodyguards than advisors. while Juliana, Linnea, and Tanja are masters of various forms of military strategy, Mela and Tahmara are skilled warriors, among the deadliest fighters in the Guard.
The remainder of the Guard have no fixed assignments. Each is a specialist in some more or less esoteric area and they are simply available should Caitlin require their talents. In the meantime, they can be found in Castle Amber or whatever other location Caitlin has chosen as her headquarters. They are also useful whenever Caitlin needs a warm body for something, whether it is carrying a message, replacing an injured comrade, lending an extra sword to a dangerous situation, or providing a pair of eyes in a place where no other member of the Guard is usually stationed.
All told, there are thirty members of the Shadow Guard today, who are described below. There are probably also a few ex-Guardswomen floating around, as well, although they are yet to be defined. Given the required sacrifice of personal life, it's not unreasonable to believe that some have resigned to pursue family. In addition, one could imagine that a few members of the original "Adventurers in Shadow" group might have grown bored with garrison duty or have been killed in action. This document does not attempt to discuss such historical data; only current active duty members of the Guard are described.
Juliana Durrant (commander)
Commander of the Shadow Guard and probably Caitlin's oldest companion. They met during Caitlin's years travelling in Shadow and, when she became Martin's military advisor a few years after her return, Caitlin brought her to Amber to serve on her staff. Juliana appears to be in her late forties, although she's probably much older. She is assigned to Caitlin's personal staff and can usually be found with her.
Linnea diMoreno (training and admiinistrator)
Linnea is the oldest of the Shadow Guard, at least in terms of physical age, appearing to be in her mid-fifties, and is nicknamed "grandma" by her companions. She serves on Caitlin's personal staff as advisor and also assists with training and assignment of the other members of the Guard. Her role appears to be mostly administrative. Rumors about her past are that she was an arms instructor somewhere in Shadow.
Tanja Lorant (advisor)
When Caitlin was named Lady Defender, several military-minded young Amberite women presented themselves to her in the hopes that her leadership would provide a friendlier environment for female soldiers. Tanja was the most favored of these applicants and Caitlin arranged an immediate place for her in the newly expanding Shadow Guard. Tanja is assigned to Caitlin's personal staff and appears to be among her inner circle of advisors. Although she is forty, Tanja has spent half her life in Castle Amber and appears far younger than her true years.
Mela Jas (bodyguard, weaponmaster)
Mela is the Guard's weaponsmaster, believed to have come from a Shadow known for violence. It is said that Caitlin found her by seeking in Shadow for the best warrior in the most violent society she could imagine. In hand-to-hand combat, Mela is said to be the best fighter in the Guard, save only for Caitlin herself. She is bodyguard to Caitlin and takes an important role in the martial training of the other members of the Shadow Guard. She also keeps watch over the Guard's small armory, making sure that their weapons are kept in a proper state of readiness.
Tahmara Linn (bodyguard)
A woman of indeterminate age and ethnicity from Shadow, Tahmara is a master of the martial arts. Her background is somewhat mysterious and she rarely speaks to those outside the Guard. She usually goes unarmed, though she serves as one of Caitlin's bodyguards.
Naomi Songan (castle guard)
Naomi is the daughter of a not particularly important upper-class family in Amber City which, though wealthy, primarily operates in the Golden Circle and eschews local politics to the extent possible. She knows who to flatter and how and, unlike some of the other Guardswomen, one can trust her to sit in on a diplomatic meeting and observe the proper court etiquette. She is a liaison to the Castle Guard and can often be found helping out with security for important meetings. Of all of the Shadows, she works most closely with the rank and file of the Castle Guard.
Hadiya Hiyenn (castle guard)
Hadiya is from Shadow and is the third member of the group of assigned to work with the Castle Guard. Like a good palace guard, she blends into the background well and is easily forgotten. She is quiet and differential to the Castle's rulers and visitors.
Francesca Fortanna (city watch)
Francesca hails from a renaissance-era Shadow, where she spent her life as a detective in the police force of a large merchant city, before Caitlin brought her to Amber, where she is liaison to the City Watch in Amber City. In addition to her role as liaison, she is happy to use her skills as a detective to assist the Watch.
Raziya Heber (naval headquarters)
Raziya lives in Amber City, where she serves as Caitlin's liaison to Naval Headquarters. Prior to coming to Amber, she is said to have commanded the navy of a small island nation in Shadow for more than a decade. Caitlin brought to Amber as soon as she became Lady Defender and Raziya, who was not young then, has been at the job for more than a decade. She is now in her late fifties and has spent relatively little time at the Castle, so her age is beginning to show.
Helene Malin (city guard)
A native of Amber City, Helene didn't exactly grow up on the wrong side of the docks, but she could certainly see it from where she was (such as it is, anyway; admittedly, "the bad part of Amber" would seem pretty nice in most other cities), who managed to get Caitlin to take an interest in her and allow her to join the Guard when she came of age. Helene is assigned to Amber City as liaison to the City Watch concentrating on military and defensive affairs.
Shannon Ridgeway (army of the valley)
Shannon is a native of Amber and grew up in the city. She joined the Army when she came of age and served with distinction in the Army of the Valley, earning praise from her superiors and eventually attracting Caitlin's notice. She now leads the Guard detachment assigned to the Army of the Valley.
Garen Delgar (army of the pass)
Not quite your typical fantasy dwarf, but something similar to that, Garen is close to the earth in both size and attitude. She knows mountains in a way no human could hope to. She can look at a rock slide, tell you it was caused by a herd of goats, how long ago they passed, how many there were, what color their fur was, and how long their horns were. In addition to her tracking skills, she can blend into the mountains like a shadow, is skilled in the construction and concealment of deadfalls and other traps, and is a fast and accurate shot with a bow. Garen is assigned to the Army of the Pass where she serves mostly as a scout for Colonel Seifert.
Zocha (army of the pass)
Zocha is a guerrilla fighter hailing from a Shadow similar to Earth during the colonial period. She is assigned to the Army of the Pass.
Michaela Avery (army of the mountain)
Michaela started her career in the regular army, where she was one of the better horse archers in the Army of the Valley before joining the Guard. Caitlin has assigned her to the Army of the Mountain where she serves primarily as a scout, outrider, and messenger.
Bronwyn Terrill (army of the mountain)
Bronwyn is a native of Amber who worked her way up to the sergeant in the army before being recruited into the Shadow Guard. She is a large woman...when she served in the Army of the Mountain, her comrades joked that she was the Mountain. Strong, steady and plodding, she is not known for agility or athletic quickness, but she can take an impressive amount of punishment and woe betide anyone who gets between her and her goal. She is one of the younger members of the Shadow Guard, having spent only around five years in Caitlin's service. She is currently assigned to the Army of the Mountain., where she spends much of her time with Colonel Trauton's personal guard.
Daughter of the Moon (rangers)
Daughter of the Moon, called "Moon Daughter" or just "Moon" by people who find her given name overly cumbersome, is a scout and tracker from a very primitive Shadow. She is one of the longest serving members of the Shadow Guard, having been recruited by Caitlin as a scout in her early days as military advisor to Martin. In addition to being an excellent tracker and possessed of a preternatural ability to blend into cover, Moon is a good shot with a bow, one of the few weapons her people possessed. In hand-to-hand combat, she uses a spear. Coming from a primitive society, she is used to making do with very little and is skilled at foraging and can make her own weapons. When Dexter agreed to allow the Shadow Guard into Arden, Caitlin assigned Moon to the task, hoping that Dexter would find her best tracker a useful addition to his own forces.
Majida Windsteed (courier)
One of the Horse Lords of Kharev, Majida was at one time among the greatest horsewomen of her people. However, she had the misfortune of an elder brother who grew powerful among her people. When, as is often the case among influential Horse Lords, her brother and the rest of her family met an unfortunate and premature demise, Majida barely escaped with her life. While she was still trying to recruit a suitable force to recapture her rightful place (or, at least, die trying), Caitlin found her and recruited her into the service of Amber. Twenty years later, those who killed her family are dust, as well, and Majida's dreams of revenge have died with them allowing her to serve Caitlin's envoy to Kharev, when needed. When not needed in Kharev, Majida stays close to Caitlin and Juliana, for her horsemanship skills -- said to be the equal of anybody else's in Amber -- make her their favorite courier.
Erika Torvald (explosives)
Erika is an explosives expert, a specialist whose skills are of no particular use in Amber, but are occasionally called for in Shadow. An explosives expert isn't something that Caitlin needs often, but it's the sort of thing that, when it does come up, she really wants to have someone around who knows how to handle the situation. When she special skills aren't needed, which is most of the time, Erika can be found with the Guard's headquarters detachment, able to fill in where ever necessary.
Paige Kennard (sniper)
Paige as an expert marksman, skills that, again, are particularly useful in Amber, but which Caitlin likes to have available when travelling in Shadow. Paige was one of the earliest recruits to the Shadow Guard, back in the days when Caitlin was Martin's military advisor and spending a great deal of her time travelling in Shadow at his behest. These days, with Caitlin spending more of her time in Amber, Paige's marksmanship skills aren't as useful. Still, Paige has become a rather impressive shot with the crossbow and Caitlin can always use trustworthy lieutenants and messengers. And Caitlin does still travel in Shadow occasionally, which sometimes affords Paige an opportunity to relive the "good old days".
Mauresha Leshannti (pilot)
Mauresha a six foot tall cat-like humanoid from a high-tech Shadow where, if one can believe her, she was one of the best pilots ever to fly a star fighter. She claims to be able to fly anything from a hang glider to a starship. If things had gone well in her home Shadow, Caitlin could probably never have pried her out of the cockpit of her fighter, but a series of unfortunate decisions by the captain of her carrier had won her a place in a POW camp when Caitlin found her. With the Guard, her main task is simply to be available to Caitlin if her travels take her somewhere where a good pilot is necessary. Otherwise, she prefers to hang out in town drinking, starting bar fights, and getting into compromising situations with unfortunate locals.
Kyla Michel (troublemaker)
Kyla is one of Caitlin's companions from way back. She does not have a permanent assignment, but hangs around the City and Castle to be available when an extra body is needed. Between times, Kyla spends entirely too much time for her own good hanging out in Amber City getting into trouble.
Rebecca Petrovich (diplomat)
Rebecca is from the same high-tech Shadow that Mauresha comes from and the two are close friends. She is the charmer of the group, the sort of person who can convince you to hand her the family jewels and thank her for going to the trouble of taking them off your hands. She, Mauresha, and Kyla are fast friends, much to the detriment of the general populace of Amber. Many of the stories about "The Black Widows" stem directly from the actions of the three of them. Rebecca may not exactly be their leader, but she is certainly their voice and her charming smile has lured many an unwary sailor to his doom.
Iolyn Flameblad (magician)e
Iolyn hails from a Shadow dominated by magic where she was a great warrior mage. Although her talents are tied to her specific Shadow, Caitlin believes that having a mage on her staff, even one unable to practice her art, provides and important perspective that would otherwise be lacking. Iolyn is in the pool of unassigned Guardswomen, available to serve as needed. She is not human, although she appears outwardly as an alabaster skinned woman covered in strange tattoos. Only on close inspection does one realize that what appear to be tattoos are, in fact, swirls of darkly pigmented skin.
Rahel Brandis (army of the valley)
Prior to the invasion of Amber, Rahel was a cavalrywoman in the Army of the Valley. On the first night of the battle, she was on one of the perimeter patrols and fought a series of running skirmishes throughout the night, killing a number of Moonriders and eventually taking command of her patrol when their sergeant was killed and leading one of the few successful counterattacks the Amberite forces were able to manage that night. Eventually, her patrol was overwhelmed by a massed attack and she was wounded covering their retreat and briefly taken prisoner, later to be freed when the attacking army surrendered later in the day. She is now once again posted with the Army of the Valley as one of the Guard liaisons.
Marya Venn (army of the valley)
Marya started her military career in the Army of the Valley. She was one of the covering force for the retreat from Garnath and was part of the rearguard action led by Oriana which allowed the majority of the Army's officers to escape. Marya herself was gravely wounded and left for dead when the rearguard was overrun and Oriana and most of the rest of the force were killed. She is now assigned once more to the Army of the Valley.
Whitney Gervayse (army of the pass)
At the time of the invasion of Amber, Whitney was an infantry platoon leader in Army of the Mountain. On the Field of Blood, she was part of the Line with which Caitlin split the two halves of the invading army, allowing King Martin and his troops to destroy them piecemeal. With many of the senior officers killed or wounded, Whitney ended up commanding a large segment of the Line, impressing Caitlin with her initiative and tactical skill. She is now assigned as a liaison with the Army of the Pass.
Kally Olthston (army of the mountain)
Kally formerly served in the 2nd infantry division of the Army of the Mountain and is one of the few survivors of King Martin's Charge on the Field of Blood. To say that she fought heroically would be redundant; anyone from "the bloody second" who didn't fight heroically is dead. Those who did are mostly officers now and enjoy a reputation for fearless courage throughout Amber's armies. She has now been posted back to the Army of the Mountain as one of the Guard liaisons.
Elise Renvir (rangers)
Elise is a former Ranger assigned as liaison to the Rangers to replace the fallen Celenara. Although she is not the first member of the Shadow Guard to work with the Rangers, she is the first former Ranger to be inducted into the Guard. Elise was part of Dexter's attack on the enemy rear on the Field of Blood and was part of the group that fought its way through to work with Caitlin's headquarters when Dexter turned over command of the Rangers to her late in the battle.
Lorie Yenst (navy)
Lorie came to Caitlin's attention as one of the marines who fought in Grace's attack on the enemy siege engines on the Field of Blood. In the administrative reshuffle following the battle, Caitlin transferred her out of the navy and brought her to the castle for Shadow Guard training. She is to be assigned as liaison to the navy just as soon as Caitlin can track down Grace and convince her to take Lorie on.
Simone Trenis (castle guard, trainee)
A former member of Root's castle guard, Simone is the most recent recruit, having joined the Shadow Guard earlier this afternoon (as of the last game session of 2001). When she completes her training, she will replace Zarifa as a liaison to Root's staff, now that Zarifa's death has been confirmed.
Zarifa Jeddis
Zarifa is Caitlin's liaison to the Castle Guard and an expert in siege engineering, allowing her to assist Root with the defense of Castle Amber. It was an imposter disguised as her who got the assassin into Castle Amber. According to Quentin, he killed her and disposed of her body in Shadow.
Oriana Enthir
One of the longest serving members of the Shadow Guard, "Lady Oriana" as the other Guards often called her, had been with Caitlin since before she was Lady Defender. Oriana came from a chivalric Shadow where property passed from mother to daughter and knights were exclusively women. She was assigned as liaison to the Army of the Valley and was an advisor to Colonel Rhyss. She was killed on the Field of Blood, helping the Colonel and the rest of the divisonal command staff escape after they had been surrounded by enemy forces.
Khadija Kesare
Khadija was a military tracker from a Shadow with a technology equivalent to Earth's late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. As a member of the Shadow Guard, she was a scout with the Army of the Valley and was killed during the attack of the Moonriders.
Ariana Ogden
During Caitlin's short-lived years in the Navy, Ariana was a young NCO leading a squad of marines on one of the ships Caitlin served on. Ariana was good at her job and the two were friendly and worked well together. They were alike enough that Ariana also grew bored with naval picket duty and, some years after Caitlin left the Navy, Ariana managed to get herself transferred to the army. Years later, when Caitlin was named Lady Defender and went through the army ranks looking for promising women to join the Shadow Guard, Ariana eagerly volunteered, hoping for a more interesting assignment than garrison duty in Garneth, and Caitlin happily accepted her, perhaps on the basis of their earlier acquaintance. Ariana was assigned to the Army of the Pass and killed on the Field of Blood.
Delfina Tramaine
When Caitlin became Lady Defender and let it be known that she was expanding the Shadow Guard and incorporating them into Amber's military, a number of women from the regular army asked to join. Delfina was a grizzled veteran of the Army of the Valley, who had spent much of her life guarding the walls of the Garneth fort. Delfina was among the first of the new recruits to the Guard and was assigned the post of liaison to the Army of the Mountain, traditionally the army unit that expects to work most closely with the Defender. She was killed on the Field of Blood.
Celenara Lelandris
Your typical, though non-magical (and not immortal) high fantasy elf, Celenara was, appropriately enough, assigned to the Shadow Guard detachment in Arden. She was a skilled huntress, a good singer, and an excellent shot with a bow. Dexter keps her close to him, ostensibly as a "personal advisor" but more likely because he wanted to keep a close eye on her. She died in his raid on the enemy siege engines on the Field of Blood.
Leila Neyland
A native of Amber, Liela was formerly a soldier in the Army of the Mountain before joining the Guard. She had held her position for less than a year before being killed on the Field of Blood.