[(re)Intro] Spare me your judgements and spare me your dreams

[skepticalmagic]

Morgana does not understand.

She does not understand how her life has changed so drastically in the past few days.  She does not understand why everyone around her is falling asleep.  She does not understand why she is still standing.

She does not understand what any of this has to do with the pact she made with Morgause.  She does understand

Comments

[77th_earl]

If Morgana is roaming the hallways, she might bump into a violet-eyed young man with a noble bearing, walking along the hallway, lost in thought.

Titus has a lot on his mind, but he's only too willing to introduce himself to someone new and get his mind off his whirling thoughts.

[skepticalmagic]

Morgana is trying to work out the ways around the mansion. It's always important to know the ways in and out of things, as she's done so often at the palace. Still, she finds herself getting turned around easily. It's odd given she's always lived in large and complicated buildings.

Still, when she sees the young man, her manners, and her pride force her to appear both calm, and not lost. "Good day to you sir."

[77th_earl]

He doesn't quite startle out of his troubled reverie, but he does look up rather suddenly. "Oh, forgive my, my lady, I was rather lost in my thoughts and I did not hear you approach," he says. "I am Master Titus Groan, formerly of Gormenghast."

[skepticalmagic]

With a title and formal introduction, Morgana is put at ease. She nods her head appropriately, as given her status in Camelot, there is only two that she should defer to.

Granted, she doesn't defer to either, but she is supposed to.

"Lady Morgana of Camelot. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

[77th_earl]

"The pleasure is mutual," he says, giving her a politely friendly, yet sad smile. "I must confess, though, that I have not heard of your country till now. Is it a fair kingdom?"

[skepticalmagic]

"It is. We are fortunate enough to be prosperous." She does not add under the rule of a tyrant as the tyrant in question is here.

"I am unfamiliar with Gormenghast. Is that an earldom in Albion, or is it across the Western Sea?"

[77th_earl]

He looks puzzled for a moment, then says, "No, I don't think so. It was not near any sea that I knew of. There were mountains to one side, forest to another, swamp to a third side."

[skepticalmagic]

The geography sounds strange, so Morgana makes the incorrect assumption he must be from one of the lands to the North.

"I am afraid we are both unfamiliar with each other's home. Is Gormenghast prosperous?"

[77th_earl]

"I would not call it a prosperous realm," he replies. "Most of the land is forest or farmland, the rest is dominated by the castle, which is no small structure. There are thousands of rooms, many of them untenanted save by mice and insects and there are hallways that have not felt a human footfall in centuries."

[skepticalmagic]

Morgana cannot imagine the royal chambers falling into such disrepair. Everything about the palace was remarkable clean, given her time period, and well maintained.

"I am sorry," she wouldn't be so gauche as to pass comment on poor leadership causing such problems.

[77th_earl]

He emits a soft, dry laugh, and glances away for a split second. "There is no need to be sorry: the glory of the noble line that rules the realm has passed and with it the splendor of the castle," he says. "It would seem that every noble family has its apogee, but not for the house of Groan. Perhaps it will again be a great house, but that time is in the future."

[skepticalmagic]

"Do you have some family who might help restore the house of Groan?" Discussions of lineage, family, and the difficulties of such are far more common to Morgana than she is going to let on.

[77th_earl]

He almost laughs sadly at this: after all, his own not!brother was the one who'd led that one-man revolution. "Nay, I have a half-brother who would have done well as a successor to the house of Groan, but he lost his life during an uprising that rocked the castle to it's very foundation."

[skepticalmagic]

Morgana has a genuine half-sister who had revolutionary ideas of her own. "I am sorry for your loss, particularly under such difficult circumstances." It is something that will come to bother her over the next few months. Finally having found some family of her own (that she knows about) Morgana will miss Morgause terribly.

[77th_earl]

"I appreciate the concern, but the uprising was a blessing in disguise," he admits. "It was all the impetus which I needed in order to leave Gormenghast and to see more of the world that lies beyond it. That was how I found my way here."

[skepticalmagic]

"And you are happy here?" She's still hoping, disbelieving that being here is permanent.

She's not been abducted, in the traditional sense, so no ransom can be paid, and returning home would be dangerous, given she has no idea why Merlin attempted to kill her.

She's looking for something, something to make her not so uncertain about everything here.