Cameron is lead to his chamber in Ht'gon after a stressful night. Mumbling something about too intense events and being unprepared...
In the morning he awakens amid high quality blankets and a firm bed. He's been changed into formal pajamas and given a quick cleaning.
Before he has a chance to get out of bed, the door opens and Osmund walks in, carrying a tray loaded with meat, veggies and scrambled eggs
"I'm sorry," he says. "Hope I didn't wake you, but I wanted to have this ready when you got up."
07.08a: Green Ham and Eggs
Re: 07.08a: Green Ham and Eggs
Cameron blinks himself awake at the scent of breakfast. There's a moment of surprise a he realizes he's in bed, and in pajamas. He looks up and swallows.
"I have to ask.. how drunk did I actually get last night? I don't remember much after the announcements... And.. thank you for seeing me home. Yesterday was jut.. a bit much."
"I have to ask.. how drunk did I actually get last night? I don't remember much after the announcements... And.. thank you for seeing me home. Yesterday was jut.. a bit much."
Re: 07.08a: Green Ham and Eggs
Osmund shakes his head. "You didn't have anythign after the announcement. I think you were just overwhelmed. I..." He hesitates, scratching his head. "I'd have thought someone real would have experience dealing with things a lot more profound than just basic policy."
Re: 07.08a: Green Ham and Eggs
Cameron sighs and shakes his head. "You have to understand. I was a farmer boy turned fisherman, then mechanician, drafted to be a soldier in a war I didn't care for in the service of a country I had renounced fighting people who were nominally allied with my friends. Then someone tries to kill me and I find myself led on a merry chase through worlds I didn't know existed, until I end up here, where I lasted for a day and a half before basically beign forced to walk the Pattern. And when I got to the middle I was so overwhelmed I ran off to the deepest, darkest hole I could imagine and spent the next five years walking back. Slowly."
He takes a forkfull of eggs, chewing it thoughtfully for a moment. "And I got back here a day and a half ago. Yesterday, I almost accidentally formented a rebellion, and last night... it was driven home to me just how LITTLE place I have in so-called polite society. Give me my tools, a forge, a workshop, and I can work wonders. Put me in frippery and finery and have me make small talk with people who are almost solely of the sort of class that condemned most of my family to die of starvation then tried to turn away ships laden with food to protect them?"
"Osmund... I mean no ill by this, but seriously. My feelings on nobility range somewhere from "obnoxious anachronism" to "have you considered genocide?". People talk about how messed up Dworkin's sense of humor is, but I wonder at times if I'm not his biggest jest yet. ME, as a noble." He sits back and sighs, then pats the bed beside him to have Osmund come sit.
"Seriously... You talk about how 'real' I am. I wonder... you certainly seem like you would deserve the honor more than me. You carry it much.. better than I seem to."
"And on the magic side of things.. I know little and less. I do clockworks and mechanisms. I can sculpt, and I'm a little better than indifferent as a painter and a tailor. In my long walk I became good friends with metal and stone, and stranger things. But people? Especially nobility? A fish would know better what to do with a blunderbuss."
He pauses, setting his fork down quietly. "I.. I'm being a boor. Thank you for breakfast. The first thing I should remember, at least, is my manners. And I'm not even all that good at that."
He takes a forkfull of eggs, chewing it thoughtfully for a moment. "And I got back here a day and a half ago. Yesterday, I almost accidentally formented a rebellion, and last night... it was driven home to me just how LITTLE place I have in so-called polite society. Give me my tools, a forge, a workshop, and I can work wonders. Put me in frippery and finery and have me make small talk with people who are almost solely of the sort of class that condemned most of my family to die of starvation then tried to turn away ships laden with food to protect them?"
"Osmund... I mean no ill by this, but seriously. My feelings on nobility range somewhere from "obnoxious anachronism" to "have you considered genocide?". People talk about how messed up Dworkin's sense of humor is, but I wonder at times if I'm not his biggest jest yet. ME, as a noble." He sits back and sighs, then pats the bed beside him to have Osmund come sit.
"Seriously... You talk about how 'real' I am. I wonder... you certainly seem like you would deserve the honor more than me. You carry it much.. better than I seem to."
"And on the magic side of things.. I know little and less. I do clockworks and mechanisms. I can sculpt, and I'm a little better than indifferent as a painter and a tailor. In my long walk I became good friends with metal and stone, and stranger things. But people? Especially nobility? A fish would know better what to do with a blunderbuss."
He pauses, setting his fork down quietly. "I.. I'm being a boor. Thank you for breakfast. The first thing I should remember, at least, is my manners. And I'm not even all that good at that."
Re: 08.08a: Green Ham and Eggs
Osmund listens, then slaps you, lightly. "Perhaps you don't understand the power you have. With a word, you could declare anyone a noble or no one. You could remake the whole caste system here if you wanted. Declare everyone equals, make it illegal to wear anything more dressed up than slacks or a simple shirt. You could outlaw jewelry or the hoarding of metal of any kind. You are as far above a noble as they are above the serfs. And you can use that power to help the serfs. you could execute any noble who refuses to aid those under their charge. You have that power and Dworkin gave it to you."
he looks down. "Yes I was born a noble, but I fought long and hard to be in charge and when I was there was no one to stop me from my forays into science and mechanics. I reshaped my town from a backwoods superstitious group of mages into a powerful tribe of engineers. My Sun-Giant saved the world, because I used my power to remake my society. Because I fought for the right to do what I wanted."
He grumbles. "That's what you have. You want to lock yourself away? do so. You want to never make idle chit-chat? Then don't. You don't have to play be their rules; they have to play by yours."
he looks down. "Yes I was born a noble, but I fought long and hard to be in charge and when I was there was no one to stop me from my forays into science and mechanics. I reshaped my town from a backwoods superstitious group of mages into a powerful tribe of engineers. My Sun-Giant saved the world, because I used my power to remake my society. Because I fought for the right to do what I wanted."
He grumbles. "That's what you have. You want to lock yourself away? do so. You want to never make idle chit-chat? Then don't. You don't have to play be their rules; they have to play by yours."
Re: 08.08a: Green Ham and Eggs
Cameron's brought up short by the slap, especially given how.. cautious Osmund has been lately. he slowly reddens as he's told the score, the flush of embarrassment radiating like a furnace.
"All my life I tried to stay out from under the notice of these giant men and their titles and their honor.I eve thought anythign would be... beyond them. They wielded the power over life and death and that's all there was."
"Are you telling me.. I should go back and try to.. change that world? There's little for me there, but I don't know what I'd do here. Yesteray, I had this thought of taking the orc camp and making it a veritable city-fort on its own, so they would stand equal with the rest of Ht'gon. And they thought I meant to lead. I don't -want- to lead. I don't know how... and with you, apparently, as the clear exception, I have known of no ruler who has not been changed for the worse by the experience."
"The fact is, I don't know how to be anything but a scared peasant boy who hid on a fishing boat and in a workshop. And I need to learn.. more. A lot more. I promised I'd help you... can you.. help me?"
"All my life I tried to stay out from under the notice of these giant men and their titles and their honor.I eve thought anythign would be... beyond them. They wielded the power over life and death and that's all there was."
"Are you telling me.. I should go back and try to.. change that world? There's little for me there, but I don't know what I'd do here. Yesteray, I had this thought of taking the orc camp and making it a veritable city-fort on its own, so they would stand equal with the rest of Ht'gon. And they thought I meant to lead. I don't -want- to lead. I don't know how... and with you, apparently, as the clear exception, I have known of no ruler who has not been changed for the worse by the experience."
"The fact is, I don't know how to be anything but a scared peasant boy who hid on a fishing boat and in a workshop. And I need to learn.. more. A lot more. I promised I'd help you... can you.. help me?"
Re: 08.08a: Green Ham and Eggs
Osmund sighs and sits down. "Look... You have the power to turn the tide in your home. If that's what you need to do to let it go, then we should do that." He grunts lightly. "Okay, maybe the festivities here are important, but Morgana has them under control and if you need the time and space, better to get your head on straight first."
"What I was talking about was the balance of power here. You have that strength as well." He thinks. "I will help where I can. I know a bit about etiquette. And wielding power. I helped literally put my world back together." He nods. "But the first lesson is deciding what you want to do and admitting that your choice will mold the world around you."
"What I was talking about was the balance of power here. You have that strength as well." He thinks. "I will help where I can. I know a bit about etiquette. And wielding power. I helped literally put my world back together." He nods. "But the first lesson is deciding what you want to do and admitting that your choice will mold the world around you."
Re: 08.08a: Green Ham and Eggs
Cameron shakes his head. "No... that place stopped being my home. Going back.. won't change anything that matters, and I'll be responsible for it." he pauses, taking a drink of some juice then looks into the half-empty glass. "Really.. that's the thing, its the -responsibility- that terrifies me. When you're a fisherman on a lone boat, the chances a mistake will hurt anyone else is pretty slim. For a mechanician, it' a little higher, but you have others to check your work. With politics... You can ruin generation with the wrong word at the worst time"
"You.. you know what you want. You are passionate about it. Me... I'm.. not sure. All I ever wanted was to get away. And I did. For a time. But I couldn't -stay- away. And now I'm here, in the middle of this, and I...have no clue what I want with it. I know many people who would give everything for the kind of power I have... some of them, like you, would even do good with it, I suspect. I don't even know what the full extent of my powers -is-. So I can't figure out what to do with them. But I get the feeling none of us know the full contours of this power. Not even Dworkin, though he knows more than he will ever let us know."
"Really though... I like making wonders. I'm... disappointed, that I couldn't give Ashara my gift in person. I am vain in that way, I want to make wonders. Little things, big things... I'm supposed to... I'm not sure if I should do it today or soon, but I am supposed to prepare myself quarters in the Orc quarter. No, I'm not supposed to. I -want- to."
"You.. you know what you want. You are passionate about it. Me... I'm.. not sure. All I ever wanted was to get away. And I did. For a time. But I couldn't -stay- away. And now I'm here, in the middle of this, and I...have no clue what I want with it. I know many people who would give everything for the kind of power I have... some of them, like you, would even do good with it, I suspect. I don't even know what the full extent of my powers -is-. So I can't figure out what to do with them. But I get the feeling none of us know the full contours of this power. Not even Dworkin, though he knows more than he will ever let us know."
"Really though... I like making wonders. I'm... disappointed, that I couldn't give Ashara my gift in person. I am vain in that way, I want to make wonders. Little things, big things... I'm supposed to... I'm not sure if I should do it today or soon, but I am supposed to prepare myself quarters in the Orc quarter. No, I'm not supposed to. I -want- to."
Re: 08.08a: Green Ham and Eggs
"Would you lead them here or there?" He asks absently... "The concern you will create lasting effect is difficult, but the goal is to choose the effect you want to leave and understand repercussions." He smiles. "So... I know what we should do. First, you need to select a site, then you need to give an order to have it prepared... Then you need to figure out one item, one perfect item that will make it home, and last, I'll show you something you can do."
Re: 08.08a: Green Ham and Eggs
Cameron starts eating in earnest as he considers, there's something of a fire in his eyes as he thinks. "have.. you eaten yet? I feel the boor for not having asked this before." Regardles sof answer, he'll be considering.
"I need a workshop and living quarters there. I need a forge, and tools, and stockrooms, and private quarters... And I want running water, not just a privvy but a heated tub... a civilized comfort... and I don't want to rely on servants. That's not the sort of person I want to become. Apprentices? Clerks? These I have no trouble with. And a cook? But I will not have people doing water that can be run by pumps and pipes and mechanisms. This may require a well... I don't recall if there was a stream or a river there. If not, a well... and windmills. I can make heat with just those...not enough for the forge but enough to heat water...." he pauses for a moment.
"That will be my masterwork, I think. Hot an cold water, mechanisms... It would, I hope, inspire. And show the orcs of the encampment that we are the equals of the dwarves and gnomes and so on..."
"I need a workshop and living quarters there. I need a forge, and tools, and stockrooms, and private quarters... And I want running water, not just a privvy but a heated tub... a civilized comfort... and I don't want to rely on servants. That's not the sort of person I want to become. Apprentices? Clerks? These I have no trouble with. And a cook? But I will not have people doing water that can be run by pumps and pipes and mechanisms. This may require a well... I don't recall if there was a stream or a river there. If not, a well... and windmills. I can make heat with just those...not enough for the forge but enough to heat water...." he pauses for a moment.
"That will be my masterwork, I think. Hot an cold water, mechanisms... It would, I hope, inspire. And show the orcs of the encampment that we are the equals of the dwarves and gnomes and so on..."