"Next was Llewella, whose hair matched her jade-coloured eyes, dressed in shimmering gray and green with a lavender belt, and looking moist and sad. For some reason, I knew she was not like the rest of us." - Nine Princes in Amber

“Everybody's been so busy lately,” Llewella remarked. when I'd finished talking. “It almost makes me feel guilty.”
I studied the delicate green of her more-than-olive complexion; her full lips, her large catlike eyes.
“But not quite,” she added. - Sign of Chaos

While designing a child of Llewella who was born in raised in Rebma, I found myself thinking about Llewella's appearance.

Who do do people generally cast as Llewella? And do people think an Asiatic cast to the features would work with her colouring?

An Asiatic cast might help, sure. I, uh, actually used Shakira...

I'd like to post a picture, but I can't figure out how Can someone help me?

Based on Merlin's comment about her more-than-olive complexion, it seems like a lot of people assume her skin (and the skin of all Rebmans) is green. I've always read that more as being a reference to what's known in real life as "olive skin" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_skin) - or more specifically, a darker shade of Mediterranean extraction. So I personally tend to think of Llewella more as a green-haired Greek or Italian sort of look. Maybe even looking a bit Latino. (and in that sense, Shakira actually works really well)

On the other hand, Merlin also describes Llewella as having "catlike eyes", which usually do have a bit of the narrowed slant, and "olive complexion" DOES apply to a number of Asian looks, so I could easily see someone portraying Llewella as an Asian. I know in one game I ran, one player used Zhang Ziyi for a daughter of Llewella and Benedict.

Of course, Corwin describes Moire as "her eyes were round as moons of jade", which makes it seem as if "Asiatic eyes" don't run in the Rebman royal family... and since Oberon doesn't have them either, it would be questionable how Llewella came by them.

Personally I doubt anyone (even Merlin) would use the phrase 'delicate green' to describe someone with a Mediterranean complexion. I've always taken it to mean 'more green than olive'.



Perhaps that's what you get if you mix Amberite and Rebman blood.