It is not merely that the PCs all know each other, rather that they are all parts of the same community, so they know (and, importantly, are known[ by]) the whole community. A member of the group who is not a member of the community is an anomaly.

(from Rob Donaghue, here)

I had to think a while – and read the whole post a few times – to see how what the author was saying applied to Amber.

In the end, it was those two sentences that made it all make sense.

Dalt is an anomaly, where the redheads are not, even though both attacked Amber: they are part of the community, he is not. The same could be said at first of Rinaldo, although he quickly joins the community merely on the strength of knowing first Merlin and then Vialle. Brand is part of the community and chooses to leave it, becoming the anomaly.

What a fascinating thought.

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