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Cam is out flying. There's a decent cloud of atmosphere around the gold plane, now, millenia of demons making air around themselves for comfort and not sealing it up because why would you bother. There's a small forest, here - the effect is kind of ruined by the lamps it has to grow under, but it's still pretty.
He feels an open summons and lets it grab him -
the Connecticut Yankee summons Demon Cam
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from_scratch
from_scratch
"Not. They're little. We'll find the place, I'll case the area and place them."
from_scratch
They find the place! The spaceship is landed. Cam meanders around, putting little remote-controlled speakers all over the place. He hides the control in the end of his scroll.
"Where are you going to be? Oh, also, do you need this road unobstructed for anything, I'm considering appearing a marble pillar to land on."
"Where are you going to be? Oh, also, do you need this road unobstructed for anything, I'm considering appearing a marble pillar to land on."
connecticut_yankee
"I'll be far enough to the west that there's at least one hill blocking line of sight. Unfortunate that I'll miss the show, but me being seen here would quite justifiably raise suspicions.
We'll want to hide the vehicle, too, unless you planned to claim that it's an angelic chariot.
This road is currently the established way of crossing this part of England. Can you make an arch across it instead?"
We'll want to hide the vehicle, too, unless you planned to claim that it's an angelic chariot.
This road is currently the established way of crossing this part of England. Can you make an arch across it instead?"
from_scratch
"Sure. Marble arch to land on. I'll drop you off in your hiding place and then flap up and hover - well, circle, I don't know these wings well enough to be sure I can properly hover - and when I see 'em coming I'll make my clouds and descend."
connecticut_yankee
"Perfect.
It occurs to me that, being knights, they'll be theoretically identifiable by sight. If you leave me one of those telephones that can receive images and a copy of the registry of granted coats of arms, I can find you the names of people whose pictures you send me. They'd never expect an angel to do something as mundane as read their labels."
It occurs to me that, being knights, they'll be theoretically identifiable by sight. If you leave me one of those telephones that can receive images and a copy of the registry of granted coats of arms, I can find you the names of people whose pictures you send me. They'd never expect an angel to do something as mundane as read their labels."
from_scratch
"Ooh, there's an idea. I could hide a little video camera in the marble arch and stream it at your phone."
connecticut_yankee
"That sounds perfect, as long as it's hidden well enough that nobody will find it even if they know what a video camera is. We don't need to keep this trick secret forever, but it will probably need to outlast ignorance of cameras.
The registry only contains hereditary insignias that have been granted by some king or other. Those will be the most prominently displayed insignias anyway. Anyone with a banner is a safe bet. Just give me enough advance warning to look them up."
The registry only contains hereditary insignias that have been granted by some king or other. Those will be the most prominently displayed insignias anyway. Anyone with a banner is a safe bet. Just give me enough advance warning to look them up."
from_scratch
"It can be pretty small and pretty hidden. And hard to get to, I'll make a nice tall arch - hmm, I could put a layer of mirror and put the camera behind that, the effect could be nifty. I'll try to avoid having to address anyone by name but it will make a nice fallback."
connecticut_yankee
"I'll make sure to get you at least one name, and you can use it if you think it would help with the showmanship.
What do you think about a multilingual inscription? I don't think it would help with the act at all; I just have an entertaining mental image of future British explorers hearing unknown languages only to find that their homeland already has a mutually intelligible monument."
What do you think about a multilingual inscription? I don't think it would help with the act at all; I just have an entertaining mental image of future British explorers hearing unknown languages only to find that their homeland already has a mutually intelligible monument."
from_scratch
"'Universal Salvation' in every human language I know?" suggests Cam. "Mind, I know the twenty-first and twenty-second century dialects of all of same."
connecticut_yankee
"Perhaps not, then. English is comprehensible even if it shouldn't be, but I wouldn't want to count on other languages working the same. It would be mildly embarrassing if it appeared to have been written in other languages badly."
connecticut_yankee
"I'm a bit worried about the effect that could have on your credibility afterward. Singing is one thing, but if a theological statement gets carved in stone then anyone with a Bible and a grudge can try to discredit you.
Maybe something like a statement of human rights instead? People may still disagree, but at least there's no external source to contradict it."
Maybe something like a statement of human rights instead? People may still disagree, but at least there's no external source to contradict it."
from_scratch
"At this rate we'll be here all day quibbling over terminology like 'human rights'. I'd suggest putting in goodies like the speed of light but I don't really want to shore up the theology against mature evidential nitpicking that well. I'll leave my arch blank."
connecticut_yankee
"If anyone manages to disagree with that I'll almost be impressed.
I don't think we're missing anything essential; let's turn that army around."
I don't think we're missing anything essential; let's turn that army around."
from_scratch
"Okay."
Cam makes an arch of seamless marble with a mirror on its front-relative-to-forthcoming-army surface to hide a tiny compartment behind a one-way section which contains a tiny video camera. He adds a mic pickup to one of the hidden speakers which will cancel out the rendition of Universalis so Hank can hear whatever's going on besides that from his phone. He drops off Hank in his hiding place with the spaceship, the heraldry reference, and a phone that is set up to receive streaming video and audio and project Hank's voice to an earbud tucked discreetly in Cam's right ear.
And then, carrying his scroll with the remote control in he climbs up high into the sky, getting a feel for his new wings. They're a little heavier, and smaller twitches adjust his flight path because of the feathers, but he can still fly and will be able to gracefully control his descent.
He circles, waiting for the army to approach the site of his speakers and his arch.
Cam makes an arch of seamless marble with a mirror on its front-relative-to-forthcoming-army surface to hide a tiny compartment behind a one-way section which contains a tiny video camera. He adds a mic pickup to one of the hidden speakers which will cancel out the rendition of Universalis so Hank can hear whatever's going on besides that from his phone. He drops off Hank in his hiding place with the spaceship, the heraldry reference, and a phone that is set up to receive streaming video and audio and project Hank's voice to an earbud tucked discreetly in Cam's right ear.
And then, carrying his scroll with the remote control in he climbs up high into the sky, getting a feel for his new wings. They're a little heavier, and smaller twitches adjust his flight path because of the feathers, but he can still fly and will be able to gracefully control his descent.
He circles, waiting for the army to approach the site of his speakers and his arch.
connecticut_yankee
The army is a barely organized mass of twenty-five thousand mounted knights. It's centered on the road, but most of the individuals are following alongside it. The columns extend backward a noticeable distance; there are a lot of them after all. From Cam's altitude, the mass seems to be oozing along even more slowly than it's actually moving.
When they reach the site, the knights don't react at all. Very few of them ride cross-country often, and Cam's marble arch doesn't look completely out of place for an old Roman road. For all they know it was there for the last hundred years. Anyone who's going to be directly blocked shifts sideways, and everyone else treats this the same as any other stretch of road.
When they reach the site, the knights don't react at all. Very few of them ride cross-country often, and Cam's marble arch doesn't look completely out of place for an old Roman road. For all they know it was there for the last hundred years. Anyone who's going to be directly blocked shifts sideways, and everyone else treats this the same as any other stretch of road.
from_scratch
Cam starts making clouds when they're within a few minutes of the place. It's a deep, dramatic formation; the angle doesn't let him frame the sun, but he's going to make up for that with a lot of magnesium. (The magnesium silhouettes him, he doesn't want to blind anybody.)
On go the speakers. He makes sure his halo is sparking, and he dives, dispensing with the magnesium but not the halo when he gets close.
His feet touch the arch as the first chorus is concluding, and he unscrolls his scroll, flicking the remote as he does. The chorus stops and he regards the knights severely, wings spread to full span.
He pauses for a moment to make sure that they are all paying attention.
On go the speakers. He makes sure his halo is sparking, and he dives, dispensing with the magnesium but not the halo when he gets close.
His feet touch the arch as the first chorus is concluding, and he unscrolls his scroll, flicking the remote as he does. The chorus stops and he regards the knights severely, wings spread to full span.
He pauses for a moment to make sure that they are all paying attention.
connecticut_yankee
They are all paying attention.
From their point of view, the first thing they see is a bright light coming from somewhere (or possibly everywhere) below the spontaneously appearing clouds. If there was any doubt about the fact that the winged figure is an angel (there wasn't), it's settled as soon as the light silhouetting him fades and they can see his superhumanly beautiful face. Forget the halo, he has all his teeth and no pockmarks from any of the recent plagues. And also a halo.
And they're simultaneously hearing an orchestra where they're used to plainchants. The overall effect is completely unfair.
Hank hears what sounds like the sudden cessation of twenty-five thousand coconuts being knocked together as the entire army stops and stares. He grins; in his mind 'staring in awe' is the nobility's natural state. Then he starts looking up the insignia on one of the front and center banners.
From their point of view, the first thing they see is a bright light coming from somewhere (or possibly everywhere) below the spontaneously appearing clouds. If there was any doubt about the fact that the winged figure is an angel (there wasn't), it's settled as soon as the light silhouetting him fades and they can see his superhumanly beautiful face. Forget the halo, he has all his teeth and no pockmarks from any of the recent plagues. And also a halo.
And they're simultaneously hearing an orchestra where they're used to plainchants. The overall effect is completely unfair.
Hank hears what sounds like the sudden cessation of twenty-five thousand coconuts being knocked together as the entire army stops and stares. He grins; in his mind 'staring in awe' is the nobility's natural state. Then he starts looking up the insignia on one of the front and center banners.
from_scratch
Cam exhales, fills his lungs with sulfur hexafluoride, and pronounces in his most intimidatingly deep, booming, and projected angelic voice, relayed by a little mic hiding in his scroll to each of the speakers:
"BE IT KNOWN UNTO ALL. Whereas the King having been sore wounded by the traitor Mordred, and beyond all mortal aid taken to the Isle of Avalon, and whereas he has left no heir, it is the duty of the British people to meet together and by their votes to elect representatives from noble and commoner alike. They shall deliver into their hands the government, and continue so doing throughout the generations until Arthur should return.
BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that no just God would allow any man to refuse another's absolution, THEREFORE a general dispensation is granted that if any be unable to receive a sacrament by reason of the present Interdict or any other, his soul is at no risk because of it. But if any, being charged to provide such holy sacraments to those willing to receive them, refuses, he fails to discharge his duty."
"BE IT KNOWN UNTO ALL. Whereas the King having been sore wounded by the traitor Mordred, and beyond all mortal aid taken to the Isle of Avalon, and whereas he has left no heir, it is the duty of the British people to meet together and by their votes to elect representatives from noble and commoner alike. They shall deliver into their hands the government, and continue so doing throughout the generations until Arthur should return.
BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that no just God would allow any man to refuse another's absolution, THEREFORE a general dispensation is granted that if any be unable to receive a sacrament by reason of the present Interdict or any other, his soul is at no risk because of it. But if any, being charged to provide such holy sacraments to those willing to receive them, refuses, he fails to discharge his duty."
connecticut_yankee
When it's clear there isn't about to be another paragraph, the knights start thinking through Cam's message. At first the loudest voices are the ones most strongly opposed to being ruled by commoners, but they get shouted down by the few who recently had family members die without Church blessings.
The army is convinced in short order that they want the message to be true, and from there it's a short step to believing in it.
While the knights come to a consensus, Cam hears Hank's voice saying, "That fellow front and center, with the oblique slash across a red and white shield? That's Sir Geoffrey of Canterbury, use the name if you've a mind to. And the knight with the tree on his shield is named Wilfred."
Eventually one of the armored figures near the front collects the nerve to address Cam directly. He squeaks out "How long will it be until the king returns?" and then starts cowering.
The army is convinced in short order that they want the message to be true, and from there it's a short step to believing in it.
While the knights come to a consensus, Cam hears Hank's voice saying, "That fellow front and center, with the oblique slash across a red and white shield? That's Sir Geoffrey of Canterbury, use the name if you've a mind to. And the knight with the tree on his shield is named Wilfred."
Eventually one of the armored figures near the front collects the nerve to address Cam directly. He squeaks out "How long will it be until the king returns?" and then starts cowering.
from_scratch
Cam takes advantage of the hubbub to breathe some oxygen. When questioned, he's back on the sulfur hexafluoride. What an awkward question. Maybe he should have flown away. "Arthur is beyond the turn of mortal days," he says. "Waste no time awaiting him."
connecticut_yankee
The mortals aren't trying to ask awkward questions, but they also aren't exactly trying not to.
Now that he's known to be answering questions instead of smiting the asker for impertinence, there are twenty-five thousand people who want to take advantage of his omniscience. Since Cam's speakers weren't made with microphones, he can only hear the closest people.
"Can the Church then be wrong?" "How will anyone believe us?" "Who ought we to vote for?" "When you get back to Heaven, tell Westley he still owes me money!" "What would you have us do now?"
It is probably a safe guess that any remotely plausible response is being shouted by somebody.
Now that he's known to be answering questions instead of smiting the asker for impertinence, there are twenty-five thousand people who want to take advantage of his omniscience. Since Cam's speakers weren't made with microphones, he can only hear the closest people.
"Can the Church then be wrong?" "How will anyone believe us?" "Who ought we to vote for?" "When you get back to Heaven, tell Westley he still owes me money!" "What would you have us do now?"
It is probably a safe guess that any remotely plausible response is being shouted by somebody.
from_scratch
"ORDER," roars Cam, "lest you hear answers with no questions, or no answers at all over your clamor!"
(He is rather pleased with himself, but still doing his best to look severe.)
"The first to pose a question may pose more, provided his fellows are calm enough to listen."
(He is rather pleased with himself, but still doing his best to look severe.)
"The first to pose a question may pose more, provided his fellows are calm enough to listen."