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o1 ✍ sharpe's introduction ✍ voice + video
voice;
Money in cards and saying me rifle’s been changed.
[ Except that’s not actually how he says it, it’s more like: munneh in cards and sayin’ me rifle’s been changed. Sheffield, Yorkshire haunts the streets of Exsilium now, thanks to one Richard Sharpe. ]
The only cards I know of are those given by weasely merchants looking ta fleece more money out of you. But you ain’t asking for money, are you? Yer asking me to fight with me blood and sweat, and you ain’t even decent enough to give me a half-ration of rum, or even a proper King’s shilling.
[ Thud. The sound of rifle on stone ground. There’s a soft shuffling sound and tapping of fingers on the screen of the tablet. The video switches on. ]
video;
Me name’s Richard Sharpe. [ Blond hair, green eyes, a scar on his upper left cheek. His lips are twisted into a scowl, and at the edge of the screen, you can see the edge of his Rifleman’s jacket. Have a picture.
If you met him during the masquerade, he's a lot cleaner now. Face-wise anyway. You can actually see what he looks like underneath the layers of dirt, and his hair isn't just a layer of dust anymore. ]
If yer name's Patrick Harper, I suggest you get yer arse over here before I shoot it off you.
Money in cards and saying me rifle’s been changed.
[ Except that’s not actually how he says it, it’s more like: munneh in cards and sayin’ me rifle’s been changed. Sheffield, Yorkshire haunts the streets of Exsilium now, thanks to one Richard Sharpe. ]
The only cards I know of are those given by weasely merchants looking ta fleece more money out of you. But you ain’t asking for money, are you? Yer asking me to fight with me blood and sweat, and you ain’t even decent enough to give me a half-ration of rum, or even a proper King’s shilling.
[ Thud. The sound of rifle on stone ground. There’s a soft shuffling sound and tapping of fingers on the screen of the tablet. The video switches on. ]
video;
Me name’s Richard Sharpe. [ Blond hair, green eyes, a scar on his upper left cheek. His lips are twisted into a scowl, and at the edge of the screen, you can see the edge of his Rifleman’s jacket. Have a picture.
If you met him during the masquerade, he's a lot cleaner now. Face-wise anyway. You can actually see what he looks like underneath the layers of dirt, and his hair isn't just a layer of dust anymore. ]
If yer name's Patrick Harper, I suggest you get yer arse over here before I shoot it off you.
[video]
It ain't only its precision that makes deadly. [ He shrugs slightly and continues to clean the gun, now sliding the cloth down the ramrod. ] An arrow makes a small hole, but a gun makes a far bigger one. It can break a man's skull in half. [ Beat, he shrugs. ]
You got a name?
[ Yes, he's forgotten about the 'sir'. ]
[video]
[He says it dryly, but this is the most anyone's talked to him about guns, and Arthur is slowly coming to realise that he might be interested in them. Not as good as a sword, of course, but effective.]
I am Prince Arthur Pendragon, of Camelot. [So he can remember the 'sir' now, thanks. But Arthur doesn't wait for acknowledgement, not when there are other interesting things at hand here--] How was it that they changed your-- rifle?
[video]
Yer highness, [ he says, and manages a clumsy little bow still sitting.
He frowns at the question, though, running his hand down the barrel of the rifle. ]
Nothing I've noticed yet. [ He shrugs. Not that he's going to tell a stranger in public about his weapon, because he's not that trusting, but eh. ] What 'bout you [ beat ], sir?
[video]
I don't have a rifle. I have a sword, very much like my own. Strangely so. I did not, at first, trust it, but it has proved itself worthy, for now. Your rifle is truly your own--you are certain of it?
[video]
Thing 'bout rifles, sir, the powder dirties the muzzle. Stains the wood after a while. Not just yer own powder, but the powder of every single gun going on in a battle. [ He slides his fingers along barrel. ] The marks haven't changed.
[ He dips his head slightly, looking at something off the camera. ]
Me sword and pistol haven't either, far as I can see.
[video]
You come well-armed, sir. But will you fight here only if you are paid?
[video]
He lays the rifle down carefully on his lap. ]
You don't pay yer soldiers, sir? [ Carefully, still polite, but his eyes are definitely averted. ]
[video]
I think, sir, you are no knight. And even if you were, I would wonder if you would choose to fight here, for the cause that we have been told of.
[video]
[ He laughs quietly. ]
Soldiers don't choose ta fight, sir. We go where the politicians and kings, [ he nods to Arthur, ] tell us ta, nowhere else. Enemies are soldiers just like us, and we kill so we don't get killed. Most common soldiers don't choose solidery fer glory or a cause, sir. [ And he gives Arthur a sharp, cold smile. ]
I am just a common soldier, sir, a whore-born bastard. I ain't no knight.
[ The implication that he still has politeness to not say: I don't want ta be. ]
[video]
It is the job of a soldier to obey orders. Duty to a king comes above all else. But there must be some sense of honor beyond that--some sense of pride, some defence of country and home and family--not for glory, or for a cause, but for more than merely his life.
You will find no shortage of kings and princes here--but will you fight?
[video]
Do yer soldiers choose ta be soldiers, sir?
[video]
[His mouth tightens a little, and he adds, with some bitterness:] Until recently. And we may have no choice but to draft others for service even after our battle is won, to keep the kingdom safe.
But is the battle that we have been told of that concerns me now.
[...which isn't entirely true. How could anyone keep their mind from Camelot at a time of such threat?]
[video]
That ain't answering me question, sir. [ He lifts up his head. ] I've been in the army me whole life, and the way this one recruits ain't much different from what I used ta. Recruitin' officers would get men drunk, and force 'em ta sign, or take the King's shilling, and in the mornin' when they wake, they are a soldier fer seven years.
[ He pauses, then shrugs. ]
Or men join ta avoid being punished with hard labour or a hanging. Better an uncertain death by gunfire than a certain death by noose, and all that.
[ A beat, he cocks his head. ]
Has there been a battle so far? Just seems plenty of talk ta me.
[video]
We never resort to such tactics in Camelot. Those who are recruited are recruited more honestly, and only in Camelot's times of greatest need. [And then, more confidently:] What you speak of must be a barbaric custom of your kingdom, and nothing more--and even then, there are some who are honest soldiers. You joined up willingly, did you not?
[Or that's sort of the impression that's been given thus far--though Arthur is not so certain that he is any judge of this man's character. It's difficult to get hold of him.]
And no, there has not yet been battle that I have seen. Only training. But I will not sit and wait in idleness. I mean to be ready.
[video]
I'm a thief and a murderer, sir, if that's what yer asking 'bout. [ There's almost a vicious delight in killing people's expectations. People like thinking Sharpe to be a hero, and he certainly isn't one. ]
[ That bit about a barbaric custom- well, Sharpe is just going to let that slide. He wonders how much a King actually knows about the recruitment techniques of his officers, because that kind of thing- it usually matters nothing to any King Sharpe knows about. Granted, he's only met a Prince Regent, and he's only known of two Kings. Three, if you count Napoleon as a type of King. But they've always seem to have better things to do than to care 'bout the dirt on the streets.
He cocks his head to the side. ]
How long you've been here, sir?
[video]
Are your crimes well-known, in your company? I would question any that would allow you to serve unchecked, no matter how good a shot you are with that-- rifle.
[And somewhat irritably (and reluctantly, too; he hates looking inexperienced), he adds:] And I've been here for some time now. Some weeks. It hardly matters--all information is available to us. Or what information they allow to be available to us, at least. There have been battles, I think, but none recently.
[video]
Or hell, what life should be like. He looks down for a moment, tracing his fingers over the rifle. It's clean now, and he takes his pistol and starts cleaning that as well. Something for his hands to do. ]
There ain't a man amongst the ranks who isn't a bastard of some sort. 'mongst me own most trusted men, [ yes, Arthur, he's a commander ] there's a poacher and a debtor, and there used ta be a thief and a soldier's bastard. And there's the Irishman, the worst of 'em all. [ He chuckles quietly - private joke.
He lifts his head. ]
Yer world seems a li'l too nice and clean ta be true, yer highness.
[video]
Do not think me simple, or ignorant of the world. I know the way of things. But I know the soldiers of Camelot--I know what they are--and they have more honor than the soldiers of your kingdom. That is the truth of it. What is permitted in the your ranks would not be permitted in mine.
[video]
And he chuckles quietly. ]
Yer highness, 'tis yer army, aye?
[video]
Of course it's my army. And?
[video]
[video]
Given his choices, I'd have to say your King George is more than a bit of an idiot.
[video]
[video]
Is he truly mad, or is this another example of your charming humor?
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