Ernst was raised on Reichsherz (States Heart), a fast-time (about five times Amber) shadow of Earth where magic works, but where this had not been fully exploited until the 20th century. In WWII the Nazis used their occult studies, based on experiments in concentration camps, to give them magical abilities which gave them control of the world. Since then these studies, mainly under the auspices of the Horbigger Institute, have allowed them to gain access to other planes of existence, allowing the policy of lebensraum to continue without visible end. They can also augment elite soldiers to superhuman capability with a mix of magic and technology, plus summon and control demons. Although there are mages capable of doing so independently, sacrifices of the unfit are often used to provide additional power. So far the Reich has not met anyone they could not conquer, and the Reich expands continually, ruled from Berlin, the greatest city in the Reich.
A limited form of Trump (compared to the real thing) provides transport within shadows; a few of the most powerful Trump artists can Trump between different worlds. Shadow paths (as Ernst later came to know them) were discovered in the early years of the Reich in places such as the Bermuda Triangle. Initially unreliable, these still provided the Reich with the power to move from world to world, and seem to have stabilised with use. All citizens are tested and trained if found naturally able in Trump or Magic (about 1 in 5 million are capable of Trump, and about 1 in 1000 can do magic; thus there are only a few hundred Trump Artists in the Reich). A very few mages have sufficient experience that they can perform magic on all of the worlds of the Reich.
It is currently 2064 AD local time, and the Reich has been ruled by Reinhard Heydrich since 1965, when Hitler retired for 'health reasons'. Although he is very old, Heydrich is sustained by magic, and a powerful mage himself. Only the Nazi hierarchy has access to magic but technology is quite advanced, significantly above that of the real world, but perhaps not as much as might be expected due to the general discouragement of free thought. There are no non-white minorities on Reichsherz; all the ruling elite are blonde haired and blue eyed (either by nature or cosmetics), servants are usually of other hair and eye colours. Uniforms are everywhere. Cities are large and clean, gleaming with white stone, glass and silver metal, appearing far too nice to be built on the bones of billions of dead. The swastika flies everywhere.
Ernst does not remember his true parents; he was raised as the adopted child of Joachim and Magda von Shrackenberg, members of an old and powerful Nazi family. He found out later that this was done as a favour to the family of a friend, but no more details than that. He was treated no differently to the other four von Shrackenberg children (Johann, Adolph, Katrina and Elspeth) as he grew up, but was still aware that he was not one of them. This was not helped by his discovery that he was superior even to most adults from an early age. Only indoctrination from an early age, by the Hitler youth and the like prevented him from rebelling and thus getting into very serious trouble. He grew up a loyal Nazi, and not a very nice person. Even so, he was cynical about the full extent of Nazi mysticism from an early age, though he was more than willing to learn the parts which worked. This arrogance was helped by his seeing improvements in the plans of most military leaders when he studied military history. From an early age Ernst liked to draw, and could easily have made a career as an artist had he wished. In his teens it was discovered (as no surprise to Ernst) that he had the potential to be a talented Trump artist, and the potential for magic too. This made him an automatic Nazi Party member, and held out hopes of a great career in the future.
He studied at university, getting good grades throughout, but not finding any subject which particularly appealed to him. In the end he obtained a general degree in history and politics. He was a member of the OTC, and was a champion fencer, marksman and all-round sportsman. On summer camps with the Hitler Youth he proved himself to be excellent at most military matters, but never really revealed the full extent of his abilities. Ernst had several affairs at university and after, with girls of his own social class, though nothing ever came of them. He also killed his first person at university, in a duel with another student over a girl. He quite enjoyed it.
After university, the military seemed a natural career. He joined an elite Waffen SS brigade, the Black Wolves, and was trained in the use of his Trump ability, and minor magics; fuller training would be given as he rose higher in the ranks. He was placed in the high command, and became involved in logistics. He served in a number of locations, both on Reichsherz and on various of its conquered territories. He even occasionally saw combat in some of the less subdued areas either in raids by the Black Wolves, occasional terrorist attacks, or in hunting subhumans on the extra-planar estates of rich families. He was very good at his job, rising quickly through the ranks to a final rank of Colonel, but as time passed he became dissatisfied with the way things were done and run - he could have done things so much better. As he became more practised, Ernst also discovered that he could create Trumps which were superior to normal Reichsherz ones, and even capable of working between planes. He also discovered that by using Trumps in divination, accurate readings could be obtained. He kept these new abilities to himself. He kept up his normal artistic endeavours through this time, as a hobby, and even exhibited a few pictures in prestigious galleries on Reichsherz.
When he was aged about 28, Ernst was approached by a conspiracy of young officers, who wanted to overthrow the 'tired and decadent' regime, and replace it with the young blood of true Nazism. They had been watching Ernst for some years, they said, and saw a kindred spirit in him. This appealed to Ernst, and he joined without reservation. Over several years his unequalled abilities drove him to the top of the conspiracy. For a while it looked as if they really had a chance of success, especially aided by the superior Trumps Ernst could produce. Then, shortly before they were due to take action, it was proved that the conspiracy was known to the security forces, when in dawn raids all its members were arrested by the Gestapo. All... apart from Ernst. He was able to Trump away before capture, to another plane. For a few days he lived on the run, a hunted man, but eventually even he couldn't keep ahead of the Gestapo, and on a frontier world he was captured, betrayed by his brother Johann, a man he had considered a friend.
Interrogation by magical, psychic and more traditional techniques at Gestapo HQ in Berlin soon pulled the full details from the conspirators. Ernst did not enjoy this, especially as he proved resistant to their magical and psychic probing, forcing them to use more physical means of torture. Even so it took him significantly longer than the others to crack. Resistance having proved futile, all the conspirators made full confessions, implicating anyone their interrogators told them to, and a few others too; Ernst betrayed a woman he had had a particularly hard time from while at university. The Gestapo also discovered the superior form of Trump he had discovered, and extracted the full details of its creation from him.
In the end there was a trial, held behind closed doors. Unsurprisingly, all the conspirators, along with various innocents who they had implicated, were found guilty. The rank and file members were to be hung, slowly, with piano wire. The leaders, Ernst and two others, were to be mentally reprogrammed, their minds wiped by drugs and electroshock sufficiently that they would be obedient and submissive, but couldn't escape and would be aware of what was happening. Then they would be magically turned into women, "to produce fine children for the Reich", and make sure their superior, if misguided, genes would be passed on. Ernst was sick and horrified at the whole concept; he knew it was occasionally done, and had even found it amusing when applied to others, but to have it happen to him...! "And if you prove infertile," the judge continued, "I'm sure you can serve the Reich in... other ways." Ernst only barely restrained himself from throwing up at this point.
The horror continued as Ernst and the rest were taken off. First, they were forced to watch the lesser conspirators hung, live on news channels all over the Reich. Then came time for the change. The three of them were separated, to be transformed individually. Ernst begged for mercy, to just be killed, as he hadn't under even the worst of the Gestapos tortures, but to no avail. The mage who was to do the transform was cloaked, hooded and unrecognisable. He screamed as he felt the change in his body. Then she was taken away for the 'therapy' and gradually her mind dulled and slipped away. At this time she acquired a numeric and bar code tattoo on her left forearm, which she still has, having vowed not to get them removed until she is a man again. She was also given a new name at this time, Lisa, but this is not something she will ever mention to others. Ernst still sometimes dreams of the change, and usually wakes up sweating.
Ernst was docile as she was escorted onto a maglev train for a "baby farm" where women with good genes but who couldn't be let into contact with society were kept, essentially permanently pregnant by men of good Aryan stock, the babies being raised by the state. As the train travelled one of her guards tried to molest her, but the fragments of Ernst were obviously still repelled by the whole concept, and she threw up over him. Before things could get nastier, an unexpected avalanche halted the maglev.
There were shouts and gunfire as something unheard of on Reichsherz for decades happened - a terrorist attack on the train. It was a group of heavily armed and armoured thugs, who seemed to be searching for one thing - Ernst. Her guards died, and she was too stupid to resist as she was drugged and carried off the train unconscious. When she woke up, Ernst, still dull-witted, found herself in some kind of camp. There was a woman there, dressed in some kind of khaki safari outfit, who introduced herself as her mother, Florimel of the royal family of Amber. She was too dull to answer sensibly at the time, but Ernst vaguely recognised Flora as an occasional visitor to the von Shrackenbergs during his childhood, apparently an Aunt. Flora seemed shocked to find that Ernst was female, and chided her for getting into trouble over her head.
They moved off on horseback, through shadow it later turned out. The thugs were left behind during the ride, and eventually they arrived at a mountain, with a city in the sky above, and a city and castle below. She was taken up to the city by Flora, and ordered to walk something called a Pattern which was there. Being dull as she was, she did so. As she went, the Pattern somehow restored her mind to its previous state, but did little for her body, not changing her back into a man. With the restoration of her mind and the full realisation of what had happened, Ernst only narrowly avoided vomiting all over the Pattern. Flora seemed surprised by Ernsts not turning back into a man. Now that Ernsts mind was back, Flora explained that Ernst had been placed on Reichsherz for his own protection and told her about the family of Amber. When Ernst asked about her father, Flora claimed that he wasn't important. Ernst disagreed, but kept her peace. They moved through the city (going both in and out) fast enough that no visions were seen. Flora offered to help her adjust to her new sex, but Ernst refused, saying he would fix it and become a man again, somehow. Flora said that if the Pattern hadn't undone it, she was sure that it wasn't just magic which had changed Ernst. She wasn't sure what would be able to [Tony idea; maybe Ernst was a woman turned into a man all along for some reason (protection, upbringing etc.), and the Pattern did undo the spell, just not as Ernst expected]. Flora wanted to introduce Ernst to the rest of the family, but Ernst again refused, not wanting this to happen while she was still a woman. Flora shrugged resignedly, and gave Ernst some clothes, some money and a Trump of herself to see her on her way. After buying a horse in the city, Ernst rode off into shadow, determined to find a cure despite Floras admonitions that this was extremely unlikely.
At first, as he went through shadow, Ernst had problems adjusting to his new sex. After killing several people and being forced to flee several times, she learned to adapt, a little, and not immediately try to kill men who tried to chat her up. Ernst was unable to find her Trumps in shadow, despite Flora telling her she probably could, so first spent some time redrawing some Trumps, changing the back design from the standard Reichsherz one (a black or red ground with a central white circle in which is a black swastika) to a personal one (a red ground with a white circle in which is the silhouette of a snarling black wolfs head, pointing to the left) to reflect her general disenchantment with the Reich.
Once this was done, Ernst walked through shadow to Reichsherz, as she considered this the best place to find the knowledge to undo her transformation. Unfortunately, this didn't work quite as she expected, and she only barely escaped off into shadow again. She did, however, stay in the Reich long enough to kill her treacherous brother, Johann, and pick up a few momentos of her former life (primarily a few pictures of her when she was still male, and a Black Wolves brigade ring).
Seeking through other shadows, Ernst found many mages, but none who were able to help her, or even change her at all, despite seeking a number of worlds with fundamentally different systems of magic. She also discovered that Reichsherz was one of the most technologically advanced shadows, and a number of worlds where Nazis were hated. This latter was a slight eye opener, but had little effect other than to make her slightly more cautious about revealing her background. Admitting defeat was hard, but after more than two years, seemed unavoidable. Perhaps she could find the knowledge she needed in Amber instead.
Trumping Flora, Ernst eventually returned to Amber about six weeks ago, where she was introduced to the King and the rest of the family. Since then Ernst has acquired a suite of rooms in the castle, a studio apartment at the top of one of the castle towers, and has spent a lot of time in the castle library, learning of the family, the history of Amber (of which there is not too much) and the possibilities of becoming a man again. As far as she can make out, her best chance of a cure lies in Amber, Chaos, or possibly Rebma, perhaps with Fiona, Dworkin or their counterparts elsewhere. Ernst would pay almost any price for this. From what Flora has told her, and from her own reading of the history of Amber, Ernst thinks she could come to quite like Amber, if she was only a man again. For this reason, and to obtain more assistance, Ernst has sworn loyalty to Random, and told him the full story of how she came to be a woman. She has asked him not to tell anyone else unless he really needs to. She has also given both him and Flora a Trump of herself.
She is very grateful to Flora for rescuing her from Reichsherz, though she may not particularly show this in public. So far she has resisted Floras attempts to persuade her to dress and act in a more feminine way, but since coming to Amber she has spent a fair amount of time with Flora. Flora has shown her around Amber (both castle and city), and introduced Ernst to her fashion designer from shadow Earth, Gieuseppi, who eyed her up professionally and got a cold stare in return...
Two weeks after she arrived in Amber, Ernst met Fionas son Ishmael while she was reading in the library. He introduced himself and mentioned that Ernst had been asking after his mother. It was obvious he didn't know where she was, and thought Ernst might. Ishmael and Ernst exchanged a little information (Ishmael has been in Amber for a long time; he splits his time between Amber, Chaos and his home shadow, the Greenstead Marches, of which he rules a portion; he has walked the Pattern several times; he asked Ernst where she was from and got "Nowhere, any more," said sadly and with some anger, in return; Ernst also told him that she had walked the Pattern). Ernst turned down Ishmaels offer of lunch and a tour of the castle and city plus Rebma and Arden (her face hardened as she did so, as as far as she could see this was the start of a chat-up attempt). After a few days Ishmael left for two weeks, returning on a black horse about a week ago.
Ernst also rode out to speak to Bleys in Garnath on one of his visits to Amber. After agreeing not to tell her story to anyone else, he claimed to know little of such things, but that talking to Dworkin (if possible) might be useful. He also mentioned that Lord Valor, the Chaos ambassador, and his son Nicobrus, are not specialists in shapechanging, but House Usherbal, in Chaos, specialises in such things. Also, Fiona might be able to obtain more access to Dworkin. After he finished, Bleys was thanked politely, despite his eyeing Ernst appreciatively the whole time and ignoring Ernsts cold looks in return (and only raising an eyebrow when Ernst mentioned that she was really a man), and Ernst rode back to Amber. From this conversation Ernst is definitely interested in talking to Dworkin and finding out more about House Usherbal.
Ernst has also spoken to Vialle and Llewella, privately, about her... affliction, and the chances of a cure. As with Random, she asked for, and received, assurances that no-one else would be told before telling her tale. Like Flora, Llewella was also convinced that whatever had changed her was not magical (her coming from Rebma was partly why Ernst wanted to talk to her about this), and may have been shapechanging, though she claimed to know little of such things. She did say that the effects of shapechanging on others are usually temporary. She pointed out that whoever had done it was almost certainly from Chaos or a member of the family (As Ernst had also come to suspect), so Ernst should be careful who she confided in. Llewella wasn't sure whether it would be better to get someone like Dworkin to undo Ernsts transformation or to find who was responsible and get them to undo it, though this last was obviously the more formidable task, and should not be done alone. This at least eliminated magic (more than it already was) from Ernsts enquiries and firmed up her determination to try and talk to Dworkin.
Ernst was in two minds about talking to Vialle (as she had already found out that Rebman magic was not likely to provide a cure), but decided to anyway, as more information might be forthcoming. Vialle made a few dignitaries wait so she could talk to Ernst, and was of the opinion that as the Pattern hadn't undone Ernsts transformation, only a very powerful shapechanger (such as Dworkin) could do so. Fiona may be able to help Ernst talk to Dworkin., if she returns. Bleys and Benedict may also be able to help as they have contacts in Chaos. She offered to talk to Random about asking Dworkin for help if Fiona didn't return in the next two weeks, and suggested it would be better to talk to Dworkin before turning to Chaos for help. She also mentioned that a few years after the Patternfall War the Chaos ambassador offered the opportunity of restoring her sight, but that she was resigned to it, and that this may be relevant to Ernsts condition - what may seem unbearable may not always be so - and that she would help in any way she could, but if in the end nothing could be done, Ernst shouldn't think of it as a total disaster. She also told Ernst to drop by as and when she feels like it, an offer Ernst may or may not take up, depending on what happens in the future.
She would also like to talk with Fiona but she has not been in Amber since Ernst arrived (and according to Vialle has apparently not been in contact with either Ishmael or Bleys). To others she is not particularly forthcoming about her background, although she may be polite or abrupt in her refusal to answer, depending on the questioner. Most of the people around the castle think of her as Floras weird butch lesbian daughter...
It is now a week and a half since Ernsts conversation with Vialle.