Armored Geese |
Summary: | In Hellsmouth Helena and Theodore talk about some interesting inventions |
Date: | 27th jan 2018 |
Related: | None |
NPCs: | None |
Players: |
Hellsmouth Province, Flanks of Mount Hadres |
A gently sloping meadow on the flanks of Mount Hadres near some trails favored for exercise and relaxation. |
27th Jan 1874 |
There's a sloping meadow a short ride out from the fort proper. This gently sloping section of ground has become something of a favorite of Ludovic's over the years and there are many people who would guide people up here to meet with him .. or it is well visible from the narrow trails considered to be good walking paths for lovers or those seeking constitutionals. The viscount is not armored this close to the keep, although he's dressed warmly, and his chestnut courser is stood nearby, fully equipped and munching on the contents of a nosebag. Another horse, a dun that has all the bulk of a top end warhorse, is on a lunging rope and Ludovic is currently trying to train it to buck on command.
The chestnut's head comes up suddenly and it wickers just as the dun snorts and shoulders Ludovic right off his feet.
The elementi is curled up on a nice sunny rock. It doesn't even look up.
A slow clap is heard as Helena come up the slope, her own light charger giving a snort as she tilts her head. "Viscount, is the horse giving you trouble?" She asks with a smile, wearing a red dress with a black riding cloak. She looks around a bit and furrows her brow. "Hmm.. now where did Lord Theo go?"
Theodore has rode out after Helena it would seem, the nobleman wearing a simple riding outfit of pale grey and rich Charwin blue. He urges his horse along and comes trotting up beside Helena after a moment. A warm smile is sent her way. "Right here my Lady Shepard." He replies easily. Though as Ludovic is pushed off by the horse he blinks his eyes widening. "Are you alright Your Excellency? That looks rather…hazardous. Perhaps you should try another method of training? Did you know some animals respond rather well to noises such as whistles? I've read you can train them to associate a single sound with a command even! Of course if the wrong person learns your singal it could be troublesome too… Oh! Thats a lovely dog." The nobleman seems quite excitable, happily chatting away until the Elementi steals his interest. "I adore dogs. Alas my sister and her children do not fare well around dog hair. They sneeze terribly when exposed to such."
Ludovic rolls out away from the horses feet and comes back up to his feet in a well practiced move made slightly clumsy by the stiffness left over from being beaten on by a dozen qatunax. Helena he glances at as he shifts his position back to a point where the horse can easily see him. "It's a warhorse." He replies dryly. "If it was sweet tempered I would have sold it to some fancy lady two years ago." He glances back at Theodore as he settles his hand lightly against the stallions shoulder. "His name is Faith." The dogs head comes up at the sound of its name. "Go say hello Faith." And with that instruction the massive hound bounces up to its feet and trots over to the two nobles, tail wagging.
Helena smiles. "Faith is a good boy." She says with a smile before looking to Theo. "Viscount, I'd like to introduce you to Lord Theodore Charwin, he arrived last night with a missive from his sister for me." She says with a smile, of course, she hasn't told anyone what was in said missive, so the contents of that letter are still between Lady Shepard and Lady Charwin. "Have you tried rewarding him? The horse I mean, it works the same for dogs."
Theodore chuckles. "Its not just ladies who prefer the nicer tempered horses Your Excellency. Not all noblemen are warriors." He smiles cheerfully and bows his head low as Helena introduces him. A smile is given to the lady and as Faith approaches he slides carefully from his saddle. He extends a hand to the dog in offering, letting the creature scent him and get used to him a bit before he starts trying to pet the animal. "Faith. A fine name for a fine dog." He smiles brightly.
Faith is more than happy to accept petting and well mannered enough not to jump all over the new people. After a few moments he rolls onto his back with a clear expectation of belly rubs.
Ludovic on the other hand just gives Helena a polite nod before stepping back and making the clicking noise that indicates the stallion should move. It's what it does as well, settling into a fast walk. "It's good to meet you Lord Theodore" He says. "Have either of you any actual experience with training horses?"
Helena blinks. "Of course I do!" She says as she dismounts and pats her horse on the neck. Walking over to Ludovic with a frown. "Horses, Dogs, Sheep." She says, though not cats, because they are furry little assholes.
"A Pleasure to meet you Your Excellency" Theodore replies easily and then he blinks at the question. "Umm…I can ride?" He admits a bit shyly before proceeding to rub Faith's belly as demanded. He peers up at Helena curiously. "You can train a sheep?" He wonders curiously. "I had an uncle once who wanted to train a large flock of geese into a personal army. It didn't turn out very well. Geese are apparently more uncooperative and cranky than cats. And a goose wearing armor on its wings is apparently quite a force to be reckoned with, poor Uncle Reginald." He shakes his head ruefully.
"Of course you do." Ludovic murmurs before looking at Theodore with surprise. "You can get armor on goose wings?"
Helena blinks and tilts her head. "Wait wait… Training a Goose to…" She says with wide eyes before looking at Ludovic. "If you can, do NOT tell Viscount kaedon.. we'd never see the end of armored Hawks and Diving Falcons with jousting beak guards." She says with a shiver. "Hate birds." Thus why she probably love eating chicken.
Theodore nods sagely. "Indeed. Uncle Reginald made special armor that fit them with spiked coverings for their wing bones. It didn't cover the feathers, just the part they hit people with when they flap about. Sadly he failed to consider that he might ought to train them to attack before putting armor on them. Uncle Reginald always got ahead of himself. He paid for it, took a heavily armored goose to the chest, one of the spikes pierced his lungs and he died. Poor fellow. BUT! House Charwin learned a valuable lesson that day!" He nods once more. "Don't mess with geese, unless they are cooked and on the dinner table." He looks up at Helena with a sympathetic gaze. "I won't say a thing my Lady. Believe me, no one in House Charwin wants a repeat of that experiment. It took us forever to round up all the geese and remove the armor."
"If they weren't trained, and thus valuable." Ludovic brings his dun stallion back to a halt and loops its reins over the saddle horn of his presumably better trained courser. "Why didn't you just shoot them and get the armor back that way?" He smiles though. "Geese always were good creatures to have around." he smirks. "Not many things beat a flock of geese, with wings spread, for the sheer intimidation factor."
Helena chuckles at Theodore. "It's a good lesson to learn. We once had a wild bull turkey loose in the pasture that was messing with the Sheep, then it decided to pick a fight with the ram… not a good idea, bird wasn't even edible after that." She says with a smile, but ponders. "Hmmm… Armored Corgi…"
"Shooting them all would have been a waste. It was roughly twenty five geese and we wanted some of them left alive. They are rather intimidating birds though, and good for alerting you to intruders I hear." Theodore grins at Ludovic and straightens back up having finished petting Faith. He looks to Helena with widening eyes. "Corgis? Those adorable little dogs they use for herding? Now that is an idea! I wouldn't want to send those into battle though, it would be quite sad if they got hurt. Though a swarm of armored corgis…while not really intimidating would be quite the sight." He chuckles.
"Why don't you just get Elementi if you want fighting dogs?" Ludovic asks of both of them. He gives a low whistle that brings Faith back to lie at his feet. "It would make far more sense than trying to shoehorn a herding dog into a fighting role dont you think?"
Helena chuckles. "Not to fight against people, but against other predators. I mean most Sheep dogs wear spiked collars because wolfs and foxes do go for the throat." She says with a smile. "Besides, if I haver have a parade, I think a herd of Corgi with armor taking point would be splendid." She says with a smile as she looks around. "Also, I'll be leaving for Four Corners in the morning Viscount, Boris and Gretchen will both be on hand to run the battleborn in my absence, and I should return when the snows begin to melt." She says with a smile.
Theodore nods. "For true combat Elementi are indeed the best idea. But I agree with the lady that a parade of armored corgi would be amazing. It might cause a traffic issue though, if people fall prey to their adorableness and start trying to pet them." He chuckles and looks to Helena. "Am I to travel with you to Four Corners Lady Shepard? I actually do have business there as well, I have been working on a proposal I have for their Chancellor. To see if he might show some interest in an invention I'm working on."
Good travels to you both." Ludovic says. "If you'll excuse me." He moves back towards his horses. "I want to attend a game of calf chase."
Helena shakes her head. "That game is barbaric, but, to each their own." She says as she mounts her own horse. "Of course Theodore, and please, tell me more of this invention of yours." She says as she motions for the Scholarly lord to ride alongside her.
Theodore brightens, an excited look overtaking his features as he urges his horse to follow beside Helena's. "Its just an idea so far, for a new type of siege engine. I'm still working on the design and how to make it. You know of the ballista I suspect? Think, if instead of firing just one bolt at a time and then needing to be reloaded you could have a similar engine that fired multiple bolts in quick bursts! Think of how easy it would be to defend your lands with one of those on your walls to point at invaders. Assuming it works of course. But I've studied siege weaponry quite a bit, I've made some more traditional designs of my own but now I wish to improve them!"
Ludovic swings up onto the saddle of his chestnut courser. He looks over at Helena for a little bit but he doesn't say anything. Instead he just nudges his horses along back towards the stables.
Helena blinks and tilts her head. "Ballista, bigger than a scorpion, but of course, it doesnt have the same impact of a trebuchet, nor a cannon." She says with a smile. "Perhaps after this, you could work on a rotating cannon device that can be turned and refitted to fire multiple volleys."
Theodore's eyes widen with delight as Helena makes that suggestion. In a rather daring move he leans out of his saddle and places a chaste brush of his lips against her cheek. He shifts back into position with a grin. "Careful my Lady. If you keep giving me such inspirational ideas I may fall in love with your brillance and not want to leave you behind." He teases her a bit his smile bright.
Helena chuckles softly as she looks at him. "Military Brilliance, trust me, I'm not overly book smart, you have me well beat in that catagory." She says with a smile. "Which I have to say, it is quite a turn on." She adds as they have a nice ride about the countryside. "Though when we get a chance, I would love to see your blueprints on such siege warfare."
Theodore smiles warmly. "Well I have studied economics and engineering quite extensively, I am quite blessed someone finds such a thing attractive." He blushes a little. "Espeically a strong and lovely woman like yourself. I find such strength of body and character most appealing…it is as you say a turn on." He grins looking just a little bashful put pushing through it. "Gladly. I'll show them to you when we have a free minute, and you can make suggestions if you like. I'll take notes and see if I cannot make a cannon that shoots multiple balls. House Charwin tried something like that before but with a different design, it failed rather badly. Five cannon barrels was a bit too much I think. Perhaps one large barrel, with three small sections in it for three cannon balls? If I adjust the pressure to each individual section the balls would shoot out at different speeds! Creating a barrage of cannon balls one after the other like I want with the ballista." He grins excitedly.
Helena smiles softly and even blushes abit. "Why thankyou, such a sweet compliment." She says before listening to what the lord is saying about cannons. "That might work, hmmm, have you thought maybe a closed chamber with a hatch? a slot for the cannon balls and a smaller slot to pour in the powder? close off the chamber and fire?" She asks with a tilt of her head.
"You look lovely wearing pink my Lady." Theodore admits with a soft smile studying Helena's cheeks carefully as they ride on. He thinks for a moment and then looks down at his hands with a chuckle. "So many good ideas you have! And here I am unable to write them down. Perhaps you can help me with my designs sooner rather than later. I have quite a few. Have you seen a spyglass? Very useful for spying things at long distance both on land or at sea. I've been designing some that can be adjusted to see sharply at various ranges of distance. There will likely be quite a few buyers for such if I can succeed too. Quality glasswork inventions are often highly valued. I'm also working on an idea for communication signals, I've hit a stumbling block there though. If I use whistles or horns then anyone who hears it can figure it out given enough time. Smoke signals can only be seen so far. I'm pondering how to make a device that is linked to another device, where someone can move gears in one and have it cause a reaction in the others that relays a message. But how to link the machines, thats where I keep having issues."
Helena chuckles softly. "Well if anyone can figure that out, it's you." She says as she herself leans over and gives Theo a small peck on the cheek. "But I would like to see one of these new spyglasses when you have one ready." She says with a smile as they begin to ride towards the camp. "Just don't blow yourself up, you are much more handsome in one piece."
Theodore grins his cheeks coloring a bit now as well. "I'll try my best not to. Getting blown up has never been one of my goals or plans." He chuckles warmly. "We should get back soon though. If we are leaving for Four Corners tomorrow I will need to pack up and be ready."
Helena nods and smiles. "I agree, come then, let us return to camp. We will be going via airship to four corners, so I hope you aren't afraid of heights."