faderifting: (Default)
Fade Rift Mods ([personal profile] faderifting) wrote2020-01-06 09:45 pm

Applications


APPLICATIONS

Applications generally always open (unless otherwise announced and noted) and will be processed on a rolling basis, as quickly as possible.

Before applying, please read the FAQ and the Rules. In addition to a lot of other useful information, the Rules page details the caps and restrictions in place for certain character types. Native characters need to conform to Fade Rift's World State and should take a look at the Timeline of major events that have occurred in the game's version of Thedas. You may also want to check out this post about our incorporation of Veilguard canon and characters.

↠ Reserves
↠ Format Notes
↠ Native Application Form
↠ Rifter Application Form
↠ CRAU Application Form
↠ Canon Updates
↠ Apping Previously Played Characters

RESERVES

To reserve a character, you can comment to this page with a blank comment. You'll have one week to edit your comment to link to a completed application. E.g., you can post a blank comment for Dagna at 1 p.m. on June 1 and will have until that same time on June 8 to finish your application and edit the comment to include it. Do not update your comment until your application is complete. Expired reserve comments will be removed after the deadline passes. Consecutive reserves for the same character are not allowed—you must wait at least one week after your reserve expires to reserve the same character a second time.

FORMAT NOTES

Please paste your application into the comment body, rather than linking it. The subject line of your comment should include your character's name and canon (if they have one). Please don't include any images or adjust the app's style—it's plain to make it easy to read. Also, please make sure you're truly finished with your application before you post it; there are no app deadlines to meet so no rush, and we get notifications for every edit you make, which can get annoying very quickly. And note that we do strictly enforce our word count limits, even if you're only a little over!

If you need help with samples, check the the test drive meme for prompts—you're welcome to either link threads or write starters, whichever is easier for you.

NATIVE APPLICATION FORM

PLAYER

Name:
Age:
Contact:
Other Characters:
Interests: What sort of RP are you hoping for in Fade Rift? Are there particular aspects of the world you're hoping to dig into? Types of plots or threads you're excited about? Do you love action scenes? Political intrigue? Rescuing lost animals? This doesn't have to be long or complex and there is no right answer—it's to help us make sure our plots stay in line with people's interests.

CHARACTER

Name:
Canon/OC:
Journal:
Race:
Nationality:
Occupation:
Division:
Mage or Not:
Age:

History

This section has a 500 word limit. Bullet point timelines are fine! We're less interested in a list of every event in a character's canon/life, and more interested in a description of key moments that shaped the character.

For Dragon Age canon characters, you're welcome to just link to the wiki and then fill in any holes or significant headcanon as needed. If your character has been off-screen for a while since their last canon appearance, please provide a write-up of what they've been doing since their last appearance. For AU'd canon characters, please link to their canon history and write up their AU history. For OCs, just write their history.

Personality

Please describe your character's personality in 300-500 words. No need to touch on every aspect of their being, but do hit the key traits and motivations (as you see them) and demonstrate balance.

Opinions & Affiliations

This section has a 300 word limit. Please briefly note your characters' opinions on topics such as the Chantry, the Qun, the Mage/Templar War, Thedosian race relations, and anything else you feel is worth mentioning for a particular character! If your character is currently or has previously been a member of an IC organization or identifiable group other than Riftwatch, please also briefly describe their relationship with that organization or group. This includes obvious things like Templars, Seekers, Circle Mages, and Grey Wardens, but it can also be used for less organized groups such as Dalish elves, landed nobility, etc., if you have something you'd like to say on the topic that isn't covered in the personality section.

Adaptation Notes

If your character is being AU'd from another canon, please explain in 300 words or fewer how the adaptation you've chosen is a good fit for your character. This should include things like why you've chosen to make them a mage, or a particular race, or a member of a particular organization. How do these choices reflect essential aspects of their canon character? What key features are you adding or subtracting from the canon version of their story and why? There is no single right answer to this question; there may be lots of plausible ways to AU a given character. We're interested in understanding why you've chosen the things you've chosen as part of evaluating your grasp on the character and on the setting.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Basically, what are they best at, and what are they worst at? How can they assist Riftwatch and where will they be a liability? This can include personality strengths and weaknesses as well as any skills or special abilities. It is not necessary to pick a class or to provide lists of specific Dragon Age skills or skill trees, but you can use classes and skill trees as a reference to discuss what your character is and isn't good at, such as saying a mage is good at primal magic but useless with entropy, etc. It's sufficient to give us a general idea of areas and level of ability, but please make sure you mention any magical ability or significant skill/resource/connection you hope to rely on in-game. Please make sure to read and comply with the FAQ sections on character abilities.

Inventory

Please list any notable objects your character will be bringing with them. This doesn't have to be exhaustive, but weapons, magical objects, and items with plot importance must be listed if you plan to use them in the game.

Motivation

What brings your character to Riftwatch? This can be as brief as "he's got a sliver of weird magic in his hand he'd like Riftwatch to deal with" or "he wants to help," though more complex reasons are welcome, and shouldn't be more than 200 words.

SAMPLES

Please provide 2 samples. It doesn't matter if they're written or linked and we don't care if you prefer brackets or normal punctuation, but at least one of your samples must take place in the game world, and at least one must be a log rather than network tags (or their setting-appropriate equivalent). They can be of any length, as long as taken together they provide a good sense of your character and your writing ability. If we feel they aren't sufficient, we'll ask you for more.



RIFTER APPLICATION FORM

PLAYER

Name:
Age:
Contact:
Other Characters:
Interests: What sort of RP are you hoping for in Fade Rift? Are there particular aspects of the world you're hoping to dig into? Types of plots or threads you're excited about? Do you love action scenes? Political intrigue? Rescuing lost animals? This doesn't have to be long or complex and there is no right answer—it's to help us make sure our plots stay in line with people's interests.

CHARACTER

Name:
Canon/OC:
Canon Point:
Journal:
Age:

Canon World

In no more than 500 words, please describe the world your character comes from. Don't try to cover everything, just focus on the key points that an unfamiliar reviewer would absolutely have to know in order to understand your character and their abilities.

History

Please provide a summary of key points in your character's history in no more than 500 words. Bullet points are fine. If there is a wiki history for your character available, please also provide a link in addition to your summary. We're less interested in a list of every event in a character's canon/life, and more interested in a description of key moments that shaped the character.

Personality

Please describe your character's personality in 300-500 words. No need to touch on every aspect of their being, but do hit the key traits and motivations (as you see them) and demonstrate balance.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Basically, what are they best at, and what are they worst at? Where can they help and where will they be a liability? Give us a general idea of areas of expertise and level of ability. While this needn't be 100% exhaustive, any powers/magic/significant areas of expertise not listed here cannot later be used in game.

If your character has superhuman abilities, please describe these abilities in plain terms. Although Fade Rift is based on a video game, we don't write about abilities or attacks as if they are occurring in a video game. For example, characters will not have an ability called "Whirlwind" that enables them to spin in a circle and strike things with a sword. Just tell us they can use a greatsword and they're agile enough to spin in circles with it.

Please make sure to read and comply with the FAQ sections on character abilities.

Suggested Nerfs

Many (if not most) abilities from other canons will be nerfed or adapted to Thedas. We want rifters to be unique and retain what makes them fun to play, but not to be so powerful that they render natives and especially unpowered characters superfluous to missions. A list of universally applied power limits is in the FAQ (http://faderifting.dreamwidth.org/966.html#nerfs). These nerfs will apply to all rifters unless we discuss a specific exception with you. Additionally, we may place other limits on rifters' abilities to prevent them from being too powerful compared to natives and unpowered characters. So if you have a high-powered character, we encourage you to use this section of the app to suggest your own nerfs or let us know what's most and least important to you about their powerset so we can take it into consideration when we establish limits.

Arrival Inventory

What will your character have with them in the dream they arrive from? Please go ahead and list weapons, technology, and magical artifacts, though they may disappear in the passage through the Fade. And please note that we do mean what they have with them in their dream; they can arrive in plainclothes with their usual belongings from a dream about buying groceries, or they can arrive in a gorilla suit with a deflated hot air balloon from a dream that was a little less mundane.

Humanization

Please describe any ways that your character's canon form differs from that of a normal real world human. This should include all physiological differences, even if they're purely cosmetic (for instance, hair or eye color if not standard real world colors). Passage through the Fade will convert each character into a Thedas-standard human, elf, dwarf, or qunari. This means that in every physiological respect, both internal and external, they will be a member of one of those races.

If your character is not a human, elf, dwarf or qunari in their canon, which would you like them to exit the rift as?

Fit

Is there a reason you think this character would be particularly interesting in this setting? Are there particular aspects of the world you're hoping to dig into? Things about your character you think Thedas will help you explore? Will they have a personal connection to an issue, or act as a foil to another character/group/opinion? Give us a sense of what you think your character will bring to the game world and what you think they might take away from it. Basically, why did you choose this character in this game? This shouldn't be more than 300 words.

SAMPLES

Please provide 2 samples. It doesn't matter if they're written or linked and we don't care if you prefer brackets or normal punctuation, but at least one must take place in the game world, and at least one must be a log rather than network tags (or their setting-appropriate equivalent). They can be of any length, as long as they provide a sense of your character's voice and internal narrative. If we feel they aren't sufficient, we'll ask you for more.



CRAU APPLICATION FORM

PLAYER

Name:
Age:
Contact:
Other Characters:
Interests: What sort of RP are you hoping for in Fade Rift? Are there particular aspects of the world you're hoping to dig into? Types of plots or threads you're excited about? Do you love action scenes? Political intrigue? Rescuing lost animals? This doesn't have to be long or complex and there is no right answer—it's to help us make sure our plots stay in line with people's interests.

CHARACTER

Name:
Canon/OC:
Last Canon Point:
Previous Game:
Arrival Point: (At what point in the past game is your character arriving in Thedas?)
Journal:
Age:

Canon World

In no more than 500 words, please describe the world your character originally comes from. Don't try to cover everything, just focus on the key points that an unfamiliar reviewer would absolutely have to know in order to understand your character and their abilities.

Canon History

Please provide a summary of key points in your character's history in no more than 500 words. Bullet points are fine. If there is a wiki history for your character available, please also provide a link in addition to your summary. We're less interested in a list of every event in a character's canon/life, and more interested in a description of key moments that shaped the character.

Past Game History

Please provide a link to the main navigation for the game your CRAU character is arriving from, as well as a summary of key points in your character's prior game history, in no more than 500 words. Bullet points are fine. (There's no need to recount the basics of the game setting, we'll get that from the link.) We're less interested in a list of every event, and more interested in a description of key moments that shaped the character into who they are now.

Personality

Please describe your character's personality in 300-500 words. No need to touch on every aspect of their being, but do hit the key traits and motivations (as you see them) and demonstrate balance. Please make clear which aspects of their personality are from canon and which have changed as part of the CRAU. While it's expected that characters will have changed as a result of their experiences in other games, we expect that they will still remain true to the fundamental nature of the canon character, and that any development will logically follow from the events described in your history sections.

Prior CR

Please list 2 to 5 of your character's closest relationships (of any kind--canonmates or cross-canon, platonic or antagonistic or romantic) from their past game and briefly explain what that relationship was and how it influenced the character's development. This section shouldn't exceed 300 words.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Basically, what are they best at, and what are they worst at? Where can they help and where will they be a liability? Give us a general idea of areas of expertise and level of ability. While this needn't be 100% exhaustive in detail, any powers/magic/significant areas of expertise not listed here cannot later be used in game.

Please note which skills or abilities are from canon and which were developed in your prior game. If your character has superhuman abilities in canon, in their past game, or both, you can choose (1) to keep their canon power set, (2) to keep their game power set, or (3) to lose both. Your character cannot keep both game-granted abilities and canon abilities. If your character's canon abilities were removed in their previous game, you can choose to have them regain them in FR.

If your character has superhuman abilities, please describe these abilities in plain terms. Although Fade Rift is based on a video game, we don't write about abilities or attacks as if they are occurring in a video game. For example, characters will not have an ability called "Whirlwind" that enables them to spin in a circle and strike things with a sword. Just tell us they can use a greatsword and they're agile enough to spin in circles with it. And while we don't want to hear about saving throws or hit points, we do want a sense of the scale of their abilities, so please do include some ballpark parameters for stuff like how big a thing can they lift, how big a ring of fire can they create, how long can they stay transformed into a spider, etc.

Please make sure to read and comply with the FAQ sections on character abilities.

Suggested Nerfs

Many (if not most) abilities from other canons will be nerfed or adapted to Thedas. We want rifters to be unique and retain what makes them fun to play, but not to be so powerful that they render natives and especially unpowered characters superfluous to missions. A list of universally applied power limits is in the FAQ (http://faderifting.dreamwidth.org/966.html#nerfs). These nerfs will apply to all rifters unless we discuss a specific exception with you. Additionally, we may place other limits on rifters' abilities to prevent them from being too powerful compared to natives and unpowered characters. So if you have a high-powered character, please use this section of the app to suggest your own nerfs and let us know what's most and least important to you about their powerset so we can take it into consideration when we establish limits.

Arrival Inventory

What will your character have with them in the dream they arrive from? Please go ahead and list weapons, technology, and magical artifacts, though they may disappear or be bricked or altered by their passage through the Fade.

And please note that we really do mean what they have with them in their dream. They can arrive in plainclothes with their usual belongings from a dream about buying groceries, or they can arrive in a gorilla suit with a deflated hot air balloon from a dream that was a little less mundane. Since your character is arriving from a dream, they may be able to regain canon items, animals, etc. that were not permitted in their previous game.

Humanization

Please describe any ways that your character's canon form differs from that of a normal real world human. This should include all physiological differences, even if they're purely cosmetic (for instance, hair or eye color if not standard real world colors). Passage through the Fade will convert each character into a Thedas-standard human, elf, dwarf, or qunari. This means that in every physiological respect, both internal and external, they will be a member of one of those races.

If your character is not a human, elf, dwarf or qunari in their canon, which would you like them to exit the rift as?

Fit

Is there a reason you think this character would be particularly interesting in this setting? Are there particular aspects of the world you're hoping to dig into? Things about your character you think Thedas will help you explore? Will they have a personal connection to an issue, or act as a foil to another character/group/opinion? Give us a sense of what you think your character will bring to the game world and what you think they might take away from it. Basically, why did you choose this character in this game? This shouldn't be more than 300 words.

SAMPLES

Please provide 2 samples. It doesn't matter if you write a fresh top-level style starter for the app or link us to existing threads, and we don't care if you prefer brackets or normal punctuation, but at least one must be a log rather than network tags (or their setting-appropriate equivalent). One must take place in the world of Fade Rift, and the other in your previous game. They can be of any length, as long as they provide a sense of your character's voice and internal narrative. If we feel they aren't sufficient, we'll ask you for more.




CANON UPDATES

Once in Thedas, rifters don't return to their home universes unless they are dropped and later reapped by the same person. However, your character may acquire new memories from time after their originally apped canon point while asleep and traveling in the Fade. (If your character is a dwarf, please contact us for alternate options.) Your character will not change physically--no new scars, no overnight aging--but the memories will feel as real as if they've experienced them directly. This option is available to both canon and original rifter characters.

If you would like to use this mechanism to update your character, you can do so by submitting the following form as a comment during the rifter application period.



APPING PREVIOUSLY PLAYED CHARACTERS

We allow reapps of dropped characters by both the previous player and new players. Unless their players make other arrangements, dropped native characters generally fade into the background or are sent away on long-term missions. Dropped native AU characters may be reapped by their previous players with their in-game memories intact or by both previous and new players as a new person entirely, with a clean slate. Dropped rifters will have disappeared mysteriously from Thedas, unless killed off in-game prior to a drop. Previously played rifters may be reapped by their previous players with their in-game memories intact, or by both previous and new players with a clean slate.

Dropped Dragon Age canon characters are a little trickier. For characters who were only briefly present in the game or who were dropped a long time ago, it may be possible to retcon their involvement entirely and allow a new player to start fresh. For characters that were around for a while and may have established CR that other characters can't easily retcon, you can work with other players to determine what to keep and what to discard from character histories, and we can work with new players to allow for (selective) memory loss via an in-game mechanic.

If you plan to app a Dragon Age character, we recommend checking for a tag to see if they've previously been played, then contacting us to let us know if you're interested in a clean slate. If you don't want an entirely clean slate, most players who app previously played DA canon characters make OOC posts after acceptance to ask people to recap their previous CR, if any, and decide what CR to keep or change on a chase by case basis.

inmycare: (Default)

Siegfried Farnon | All Creatures Great and Small (2020) | Native AU

[personal profile] inmycare 2024-03-13 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
PLAYER

Name: Ammmy
Age: Eight years older than the first FR app I wrote, jesus christ (and well over 18)
Contact: [plurk.com profile] prettiestwhistles or prettiestwhistles on Discord
Other Characters: Julius, Cosima Niehaus, Vanya Orlov
Interests: I'm weak for a spiky man who cares very much.

CHARACTER

Name: Siegfried Farnon
Canon/OC: All Creatures Great and Small (2020 TV version) | Native AU
Journal: [personal profile] inmycare
Race: Human
Nationality: Marcher
Occupation: Vet/Healer with a specialty in animals
Division: Research
Mage or Not: Apostate mage
Age: 44

History

(I didn't find an operative fan wiki for the 2020 show, and this version of Siegfried is significantly different from the real-life person he's based on, the book character, and the version from the 1970s show. That said, here is the Wikipedia page for the 2020 show, and I'm happy to explain more about the canon version I'm adapting from if needed.)

  • Siegfried was born in 9.6 in Ansburg to a Marcher father and a Nevarran mother.

  • Siegfried's magic manifested when he was around seven. His parents' reaction to the idea of sending him to the Circle was roughly "Hmmmm we'd rather not." This was facilitated by Siegfried's mother's connection to a trusted old friend from Nevarra with Mortalisi connections. The friend was able to provide enough training for Siegfried not to do magic accidentally and to let him hide his nature; the deception was made easier by his parents' dedication to rural life.

  • Siegfried assumed he would become a physician like his father, but his passion for animals manifested strongly and early. At some point in his early adolescence, Siegfried connected with a spirit that approved of his fierce desire to take care of animals and alleviate their suffering. He's mainly able to pass off spirit healing for animals as a "knack" (though some farmers who suspected were happy to look the other way after he saved a valuable portion of their livestock).

  • When he was old enough, Siegfried attended the University of Markham to learn mundane veterinary skills.

  • Siegfried's brother Tristan was born 9.26; their mother died in childbirth with him.

  • In 9.27, a trade dispute between Hercinia and Ansburg broke into outright hostilities that lasted roughly a year.* Siegfried volunteered as a field medic, but the realities of how people behaved in combat soured his initial heroic impulses.

  • After the fighting ended, Siegfried married his university sweetheart, Evelyn Sinclair, in 9.28.

  • Siegfried and Evelyn traveled between Marcher farming communities in a circuit, offering Siegfried's services. Their small house was remote, somewhere between Ansburg and Starkhaven.

  • Siegfried's father was killed in a mundane accident in 9.34. Evelyn and Siegfried adopted young Tristan.

  • Around 9.42, Evelyn died of cancer after a lingering illness.

  • Tristan, following in his brother's footsteps, trained to be a vet. He'd been talking about going to Markham, but the invasion of the Marches effectively put that on hold. He's also been talking about joining the Inquisition, an idea Siegfried has repeatedly discouraged.

  • About a year ago, Siegfried took on a partner to try to cover more ground. James discovered Siegfried's secret but pledged not to tell.

  • Recently, Siegfried was outed as a mage in a way that won't immediately blow over. For now, he's left practice to Tristan and James, who are both mundane vets with no secret magic.


* Note: If this is too big to make up, it can be amended or dropped.

Personality

Siegfried is gentle and intuitive with animals (and, usually, young children). He's a bit less great with adults, his patience being much shorter with them. He has a temper, which usually manifests in snappishness or sarcasm, though never violence. He's incredibly set in his ways and not great at compromise, as he's usually convinced his own way is the obviously best one. (As Sophie Brookover wrote for Vulture, "Siegfried must [eventually] acknowledge that being a well-intended control freak is not, in fact, a viable love language.") He's also terrible at admitting he was wrong under any circumstances. Siegfried is prepared to look at you blankly if you claim he said the opposite thing to you in your previous conversation, or that you did something that turned out badly because he suggested it. Obviously you misheard.

Pride aside, Siegfried is genuinely devoted to doing the best he can for every animal he cares for. His deep feelings for animals are unfeigned and the one place he's willing to make changes without resistance is in providing proven new methods of improved treatment. While he's less conscious of it, he feels equally deeply devoted to people if he lets them in; if he comes to care for a person, he is unflinchingly loyal and will do his best to take care of them in whatever way he thinks is best. He is not above deceiving people he loves for what he perceives as their own good, but he is genuinely well-intentioned when he does so. He conceives of himself as an intensely independent person, but he holds tight to the people he loves.

Despite his sometimes spiky exterior and his ego, at heart Siegfried is a good man who is disinclined to put anyone else in a tight spot needlessly. In his work, this often meant accepting a half a dozen eggs or a string of sausages in lieu of cash for payment. In his personal life, this means that if you need him to pick up supplies for a party, he will loudly complain all the way to and from fetching those supplies. His intention with Riftwatch is to mainly help with animals but he will inevitably find himself drawn in elsewhere, I expect.

Opinions & Affiliations

Aggressively non-political. Anti-Tevinter and Corypheus, especially since the invasion of the Free Marches, but in a broad way that suggests yes, someone should absolutely do something about that. He doesn't mind helping to that end, but it's not what brought him to Riftwatch. Would personally prefer not to be locked in a Circle, but also uninterested in the political work involved in actively campaigning for mage rights and sort of just hopes everyone will leave him alone about it. Zero tolerance for animal abuse of any kind, regardless of the motive or the person doing it.

Adaptation Notes

While there's a few ways to approach it, I wanted to explore Siegfried's gift with animals. In the show, it's clearly talent and experience, but in Thedas it seemed like beefing it up with magic would create some interesting RP opportunities. I also love the idea, after years of mage politics with Julius, of playing a person who couldn't care less about that. Siegfried is very content to build a small-scale life where he's a big fish in a small pond, and I'm intrigued by that contrast. After some thought, a Marcher background felt like it would fit a farm-facing existence. It will also inevitably mean he's had some incidental experience with Fade-touched animals and environments, which I think would be an interesting hook into the Research division. Obviously, the state of the world is going to create some differences from his "late 1930s England" original, but I think the bigger differences will be putting him in a new place where he isn't in charge.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

  • Magic: spirit healing (animals, and potentially very young children, only)

  • Trained mundane vet

  • Especially great with horses; can ride bareback

  • Conversational in Nevarran, though his accent suggests fluency


Weaknesses

  • Diplomacy

  • Non-healing magic. Any spells that aren't from the spirit healer tree (or "heal," which is hilariously not in that tree) he'd have to do untrained. I'd propose that untrained spells generally have a chance of failing, maybe a dice roll, though we can talk about the mechanics of that if it feels too nerfed/not nerfed enough

  • Keeping an open mind

  • Organization when it comes to paperwork; good luck getting his reports in a timely fashion


Inventory

  • Small trunk full of veterinary supplies such as bandages, surgical instruments, tinctures, poultices, etc.

  • A few (roughly five) annotated books about animal husbandry, animal diseases and basic fundamentals of care, mainly focused on livestock and horses.

  • Clothes, including a heavy overcoat and gloves for messy work

  • A hand-sized portrait of his late wife

  • A few personal letters

  • If permitted: A pet rat named Volonel, with his cage


Motivation

After many years, Siegfried's magic was finally discovered and exposed in a major enough way it can't be swept under the rug. While no one is going to force him into a Circle at present, he can't continue practicing as he has been, and the world is shrinking enough that just starting somewhere else runs the risk of re-discovery. Since his options are a) defecting to Tevinter (absolutely not) b) joining the mages attached to the Inquisition (seems regimented in a way he doesn't care for) or c) joining Riftwatch, he's picking option c as the one most likely to just let him do his work as long as he makes himself useful.

SAMPLES


Sample One

Test drive meme

Sample Two

Siegfried has had a long day.

Not that long days are so unusual, in his profession, though under pressure he would admit he feels them more than he did 15 years ago. Calves have an uncanny preference for being born at three in the morning, for one thing. Any hope for a nap after the early calving vanished when a messenger arrived with a note about a dog who'd throw his hip out of joint, followed promptly by the dog's owner noting that, while Siegfried was there, he could maybe take a look at a pig that was off his food.

So as he returns to the inn, he's looking forward to a quiet evening featuring a warm meal and perhaps a quiet card game. It's a bit late, but not so late he expects the kitchen to be closed or his assistants to have retired for the night.

What happens next, however, is: The cook has gone home early because his wife is in labor. James has, in fact, been called out to see about a horse with what sounds like stomach troubles. And Tristan has managed to fall asleep early with the help of several pints of beer.

With some warmed over stew that is better than nothing but hardly much comfort after the day he's had, Siegfried sets himself up at a table in the common room and begins a game of solitaire. Whether or not be particularly wants to play solitaire is not the point. It's the principle of the thing. He's earned a relaxing evening, and by the Maker, he intends to relax as hard as he can.