Maxx pointed out that my post didn't register on the main page, so I'm posting again to alert you to it, although you probably already noticed in the Behind the Screens thread that I posted.
Ahmetia Travels to Ruritania
(257 posts) (2 voices)-
Tue Nov 23 2010 1:40 am #
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"I'd prefer tea if it's not to much trouble, or ice water."
"I'd love to tell you of my travels. Merci Marc, Marie...I believe, vo cou is very much, right?" I'll have to be sure to thank Etienne when he comes back too.
Tue Nov 23 2010 1:56 am # -
He laughs at ice. "The water from the well is cold, but it is too early in the year for fresh ice. But we have tea. An English drink, but my cousin sends it at holidays."
He smiles at your efforts with French. "Merci beaucoup, much or many. You are welcome. C'est [read "say"] rien, it is nothing."
The stew is followed by the tea, Etienne is chased to bed after he returns from stabling the horse and you have thanked him.
"Je regrete, qu'est c'on dit? I am sorry, we did not make enough dessert to have some. We do have some biscuits, which are sweet, and I think Marie is planning to make custard for breakfast. But if you are not too tired, I would love to hear of your travels."
--M. J. Young
Wed Nov 24 2010 3:14 am # -
"I would love to, the only problem is where to begin. Ruritania was truely lovely."
Wed Nov 24 2010 3:34 am # -
"Oh, how long were you there? I heard that the coronation was wonderful, but that it was almost impossible to get seats inside. Were you there for that? What was it like?"
--M. J. Young
Fri Nov 26 2010 12:15 am # -
"Quite a few months. I was there just in time for the coronation. I guess I was lucky to get in though, it was a very elegant affair."
Fri Nov 26 2010 12:19 am # -
"I guess good seats were hard to get. Could you see much from where you were? Did the cathedral have open balconies? Is the queen as pretty as they say?"
--M. J. Young
Sat Nov 27 2010 2:55 am # -
"I could see everything. I can't recall if there were balconies, not everyday a queen is crowned. Though I couldn't tell you if she is as pretty as they say. I don't even know what they say."
Mon Nov 29 2010 2:19 am # -
"Oh, you know--she's supposed to be cute and impish and very, what's the English expression? Tomboyish, a hunter and drinker and at the same time a flirt. Her eyes are said to be a stunning blue, and she has long hair--but then, all of that detail does not say whether a woman is beautiful, does it? One could have every feature described and be perfectly plain. It is, perhaps, the royal mystique: one is beautiful because one is rich and powerful. It may be that France has down herself a disservice by destroying her royals. They say that Marie Antoinette was very beautiful. We are now a nation of commoners, and all of us are plain, with no great beauties among us.
"My wife excepted, of course."
--M. J. Young
Tue Nov 30 2010 1:04 am # -
"Then I guess she was as beautiful as they say. Though I disagree with the rich and powerful part. Some people are just lucky where they don't have to spend hours working on themselves to look beautiful, and you can see it in the country side, in the merchants and farmers, and bakers. But I guess the rich and powerful have that luxury."
Tue Nov 30 2010 10:27 am # -
"Mais oui, there is that--if you have all day to do your hair and clean your skin, and you can have hot baths every week if you like, plus the finest creams and colours available in Europe, it is easy to be beautiful. But some have more beauty to start.
"So, now that you have seen the coronation of a queen, I suppose it is, qu'est qu'on dit, downhill from here? What do you hope to see and do next?"
--M. J. Young
Thu Dec 2 2010 5:31 am # -
"It wont compare to being at the coronation," or pretending to be a queen for a few months, "but I am hoping to be able to visit some towns and cities, hoping to find a path for me to follow."
Thu Dec 2 2010 5:53 am # -
"Oh, yes, you can see the new Tower Eiffel in Paris, and the Musee de Louvre. Paris is the place to visit, yes?
"But you must be tired. Do you require anything else for the evening?"
If not, you can presumably find your way to your room and move through the night to tomorrow morning, if you like.
--M. J. Young
Thu Dec 2 2010 8:24 pm # -
I can't think of anything else, so I'd probably thank him again for the stay and head off for the night.
Thu Dec 2 2010 11:56 pm # -
Did you pack night clothes of some sort, or are you sleeping in the clothes in which you were hiking, or in something else?
--M. J. Young
Sun Dec 5 2010 11:00 pm # -
I don't think I thought to bring my own sleepwear, so I'll have to sleep in my traveling clothes.
Mon Dec 6 2010 4:46 pm # -
You would probably have been traveling in riding clothes provided by Sapt and Frieda (which we should note to add to your sheet, along with the other things they gave you when you were leaving). Just looking at clothing on your character sheet, I see
- Pink Plad Shirt w/ short skirt & drawstring
Jeans
Brown Velcro Sandals
Gray Wool Cape w/ Red Strings and Hood
White Chemise Style Cotton Shirt w/ Drawstring
Black Short Dress w/studs and lacing
Black Ruffle Skirt 3 layers
Black Stocking Knee Highs
Black Heeled Shoes w/Shoe Laces
Black Top Hate w/ Ribbon
Gray furry/black cotton Renaissance Bodice w/ 2 drawstrings and a dragon embroidery
Black Renaissance Skirt w/ Drawstring
White Chemise w/ DrawstringI'm not sure whether any of that would be more comfortable sleeping gear than a German riding outfit, but it would be cleaner.
--M. J. Young
Tue Dec 7 2010 3:54 am # -
Yeah, the chemise would probably be a better choice. I sort of doubt I'll need it completely clean again in a very short time assuming it's not still cold in the bed.
Tue Dec 7 2010 4:03 am # -
I take it that this is the loose dress definition of chemise, and not the women's undershirt version.
The night passes quietly, although it's a bit chilly when you awaken. The hot coals in the brazier near the window are long spent. Someone has brought fresh water, still warm, in a pitcher beside the wash basin at a small table.
--M. J. Young
Wed Dec 8 2010 4:03 am # -
((Yeah, that definition))
I'll probably wash up before I change, that way I don't get my clothes damp or anything before I'd have to travel in the cold. I'll probably try and leave right after thanking them once more.
Wed Dec 8 2010 8:34 pm # -
They are expecting you to breakfast with them. They made some bacon specifically because you are here, and are asking what you like in your omelet.
--M. J. Young
Thu Dec 9 2010 3:46 am # -
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't want to be any trouble. I'll be happy with a plain omlete, thank you."
Thu Dec 9 2010 6:24 am # -
He converses with his wife in French, and she seems rather confused. He turns to you and says, "Plain means cheese, cream, butter, sausage, and onion, yes?"
--M. J. Young
Fri Dec 10 2010 4:11 am # -
"Well, I wouldn't think so, but that would be nice if it's not a trouble."
Fri Dec 10 2010 4:14 am # -
Omelet, small talk, questions about your present direction and destination, and how you intend to communicate with small-town innkeepers most of whom speak only French (although out here some speak a bit of German or Dutch) and who don't much trust the English and would not recognize an American as different from an Englishman anyway.
--M. J. Young
Sat Dec 11 2010 10:42 pm # -
"I'm not sure if American is any better. I plan on seeing if I can find a book or something of that nature to help translate what is being said while on my way to Paris."
Sat Dec 11 2010 11:15 pm # -
"Oh, mais non--the French, we love our American cousins. Your revolution and ours, your Liberte mirrored by ours. I do not know a Frenchman who does not love America.
"But a book? You could find one in Paris, no doubt, but you will want it long before that. Marie! We need paper, and ink and a quill. Our guess will need to make notes of a few phrases to help her get to Paris, yes?"
--M. J. Young
Sun Dec 12 2010 10:40 pm # -
"Oh, that would be wonderful, it wont be too much trouble?"
Mon Dec 13 2010 3:08 am # -
"Oh, no trouble, really. I mean, too much trouble to give you an entire dictionary, but you could not use something so big as that, and so the difficulty is knowing how much you need to know. You will need to be able to ask what things cost, ask for a room, a meal, a drink. You will want to know how to ask where the bathroom is, and where you can wash up. You will have to understand the numbers, too, or at least have a list so that when you ask how much and they tell you you can work out what they said--although if you have them write with numerals, those would be the same. We call it trois and you call it three, but it looks the same if it is a numeral.
"So, let's make a list of what you want to know how to say, and then we will help you learn to say it."
--M. J. Young
Wed Dec 15 2010 2:38 am # -
"Well, the for-mentioned is obvious, though I would also need to ask for the directions toward Paris and how to understand the basics of directions."
Wed Dec 15 2010 3:48 am # -
"Ah, yes, directions. That would be much more difficile, of course. But let us begin at the beginning, and see what we can do."
Please make a list of those statements you want Marc to translate for you. Also, do you want him to write how it would be written in French, or do you want him to pronounce it and let you spell it the way you think it sounds?
Whatever you say you want to know will comprise your phrase book for the present.
--M. J. Young
Thu Dec 16 2010 3:17 am # -
I'll prefer a written list, someone is bound to at least guess what I am saying, but I'll need to study while riding. I'll very likely mess up badly if it's the other way around.
Basic numbers so I never not know how much or how far or what time etc.
How to ask for a room.
"I don't speak much French" would probably be very useful as well as "Do you speak English?"
How to ask for water.
How to ask how much something is.
Where is the bathroom?
How do I get to Paris?
Basic directions like east and markings like forest or train.
Where is the hospital?
Where is the police station?
Where is the inn?
Where can I keep my horse?
Where can I find a place to get a map?
Do you know a restaurant with regional dishes?
Polite things like "excuse me" and "I'm sorry".Thu Dec 16 2010 4:01 am # -
As you depart your host, you are also departing this forum and moving to the new one, picking up your game with Ahmetia Travels from Ruritania to Paris there.
--M. J. Young
Fri Dec 17 2010 1:23 am #
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