Oswald nods to Ghost Wolf. "I apologise for what our people have done to yours. But I assure you, the actions against your people were not done by men of Science, but by those who lust for power without understanding. I do not intend to die on this day, or for many years to come for that matter. But I do not wish to see others die either."

Oswald's tone then changes from one of sympathy to one of curiousity. "You said Pale Moon had a vision of the moon weeping tears of silver. Am I the only tear you have found, or are there others?"

In reply to Dr. Oswald Franklin (msg #4):

"Save your apologies. You cannot bring the dead back, not even with your science." Ghost Wolf says.

He goes over to the pile of stuff that was taken from Oswald when he was dumped here. The native seems particularly interested in the cameras, picking them up and looking them over as he speaks. "Pale Moon saw two tears drop in his vision. The other was protected by the Rattlesnake Man. The rider said he saw bad medicine used to kill our brothers. What does this do?" He seems to be referring to the Epitaph camera.

Mister Lazarus? Oswald quietly murmurs to himself at the thought of the protected man being his companion on their mission.

Then, when Ghost Wolf asks about his Epitaph Camera, Oswald begins to explain. "It is a called a camera. Its purpose is to capture the image of whatever is before it and record it permanently. By doing so, it allows the image to be shown to others who were not there, or to simply be a reminder for those who were there. A standard camera requires a long exposure time for the image to be recorded, whereas that is the pinnacle of science in that the image is captured almost instantly, which is extremely helpful when time is of the essence."

Oswald then realises that the native may be concerned that it could be used to cause harm in some way. "This device, along with my other inventions, cause no harm to anyone. The closest I have is an invention of my own creation I dubbed the Aetheric Energy Emitter, and it can sap the strength from someone, befuddle their mind, and other similar effects. But it can also make someone stronger, smarter, more agile. But they are short term effects, from only a few seconds to a minute at maximum."

The Comanche looks a little lost at the technical jargon, but seems to have grasped some of the gist of it. "It preserves things for later." he murmurs. "Among the white man, there are sheets with many words and pictures like life. This cam-ra...it paints those pictures?"

He nods as Franklin attempts to mollify him. "No harm from devices. Short use." He looks back at the pile. "Why do you have two cam-ras?"

Oswald nods in agreement when Ghost Wolf asks about the camera painting pictures. "That is correct, the camera is what makes the pictures able to be printed in books, the sheets with words as you called them. In regards to why I own two cameras, they each have a different purpose. One is for taking pictures quickly. The other is for taking photographs of things we cannot see with the naked eye. The uneducated and superstitious call them ghosts and spirits, whilst I believe they are beings in another state of energy that we cannot perceive. And that is why I have two cameras."

"This other sees into the Hunting Grounds?" Ghost Wolf mutters, more to himself than to Oswald. He moves over to the man and begins loosening his bonds. "You will show me this. There are things I must see. You will paint my picture with the Ghost Cam-ra. I must know."

He seems incredibly eager, almost desperate.

A few of the others in the camp, mostly women and children, have begun to gather around the pen, and are looking on curiously.

"I would be more than happy to oblige you Ghost wolf, however," Oswald pauses and makes an obvious but futile struggle against the rope currently bonding him to the stake. "I will not be able to take your picture whilst restrained. I will need to be untied so that I can operate the camera, and then I will need somewhere dark so that I may develop the picture. Otherwise the photograph will be ruined and will not show you the picture I captured."

He then turns his head to the left and right, looking around at the camp, although he can only make out blurs around him, more do seem to be steadily surrounding him. "There is nowhere I can go. Without my spectacles I can barely see a few feet before me, and I was captured previously from horseback whilst I am now on foot, as such any attempt I make to escape is doomed to failure. So you have my word I will not do anything foolish."

The large Comanche is already in the process of untying the scientist. "My tipi is dark inside, when the cook fire is unlit. Will that be good for your pictures?"

"That will suffice, yes."

By now quite a large crowd has gathered. The pen is surrounded by spectators. The last of Oswald's bonds slip free, and Ghost Wolf points to the cameras.

"Do what you must to paint your picture." He says.

"Very well." Oswald politely replies, as he goes towards his equipment.

He picks up his camera and tripod, standing it up as it points Ghost Wolf. Oslwad then digs out one of the special photographic plates that he requires for the spirit camera and places it within the camera. Finally, he prepares the flash for the photograph to capture the right amount of light.

"This will create a flash of light. It is necessary for there to be enough light on you to capture your image, as the camera's primary purpose is to capture what is beyond out sight." He explains to Ghost Wolf, hoping to allay any fear he may have over the flash.

Placing his head under the cover, the optics within the camera allows Oswald to focus properly on Ghost Wolf even without his glasses, although he could not walk around like this all the time.

Then a bright flash lights out as Oswald captures Ghost Wolf's picture.

"That should do it. Now all I need is to grab my developing solutions and I will be able to give you your picture within a few minutes. If you could direct me to your tipi please, Ghost Wolf."

[[OOC: 23:56, Today: Dr. Oswald Franklin rolled 9,10 using 1d6,1d12, rerolling max with rolls of (6+3)9,10. Smarts roll to use Spirit Camera.
So a raise on taking the picture, which will hopefully give enough to please Ghost Wolf. Although I hope he knows better then me in what to expect from it...]]

The scientist is ushered into the tent, and sets about getting to work.

It's dark in the tipi, but not quite dark enough to work without ruining the plate. At least, not before the addition of a blanket to the outside wall.

The emulsion fluids necessary to develop and fix the image are a pain to work with in this sort of cramped environment, doubly so without proper pans for the fluid. Both the cameras use that new-fangled dry-plate process, which prepares plates for proper developing in a dedicated darkroom rather than having to do it on site in haste. But since haste was requited, Oswald's skill with the older wet plates is invaluable here.

The chemicals are noxious and leave him feeling a bit dizzy afterward, but in about half an hour Oswald has a properly developed plate. If he can get it back to civilization, he can even make paper copies of the image.

It's a puzzling one. There's the grim warrior in clear black and white, stock still and tight-lipped. There are several dark smudges, which at first look like motion blurs. But these blurs are vaguely bird shaped, and Oswald can't remember seeing any birds in the shot.

The most interesting image, though, is the owl perched on the brave's shoulder, glaring at the camera with intense golden eyes. There's an aura around the ghostly bird. The color isn't a mistake in the development process...This always happened when Oswald captured a denizen of the Aether in frame. Never had he seen the entity so clearly, though.

As the photograph developed, Oswald developed a growing sense of confusion and curiousity. He had used the spirit camera before, and so knew it could achieve what was advertised in the Smith & Robards catalogue, but had never seen anything like the owl before.

He had heard of what the natives called Spirit Totems, told to him when he spent time with a tribe of the Cherokee.

With his fully developed plate in hand, he opens the tipi and heads outside, covering his eyes from the bright light outside after his vision being used to the darkness within the tipi.

Once his vision adjusted, he approached Ghost Wolf, holding the plate out to him. "This is the picture I took of you with my camera. However there is something shown that was not there when I took your photograph. An owl, surrounded by colour which should not happen to anything of this material plane when taken with this camera. Does this mean anything to you, Ghost Wolf?"

Ghost Wolf isn't alone. By now he has been joined by a number of warriors, including a pair of what looks like very important people.

One of them is a silver haired, middle-aged native dressed in leather, wearing an elaborate headdress. He stares at Oswald through black, hawk-like eyes. He wears an elaborate pale fringed leather shirt adorned with images of birds, stars, and the crescent moon. He bears a spear and has a Winchester rifle strapped to his back. His hands are stained black.

The other is powerfully build Indian standing 5'10" and perhaps weighting 250lbs. He dresses in buckskin leggings, moccasins, a beat-up Confederate cavalry coat with all the insignia ripped off, and a homespun shirt. He's missing a tooth in his lower jaw, and has scars down the side of his face that look like scratches from some wild animal. He usually wears a stripe of red war paint across his eyes (along with read teardrops down his face), and his hands are also stained black.

Ghost Wolf seems uncomfortable in their presence, but he hungrily rips the plate out of Oswald's hands. He stares at intently. A tear curls down the side of his face.

"Yes. Thank you. Now I see." He says numbly. The plate drops from his fingers, and there's a crack! as it hits the ground and breaks in two. Ghost Wolf staggers off, holding his head in his hands and weeping, leaving Oswald all alone with the crowd of Comanche and the two important-looking strangers.

Oswald had began to feel safe with Ghost Wolf, in that he did not appear intent on harming Oswald. But from his actions regarding the two new natives, with their black stained hands and civilised clothing, Oswald was worried.

When Ghost Wolf dropped the plate on the floor, Oswald could not help himself but dash towards it, dropping to his knees and examine the plate.

"No!" He yells as he reaches for the plate. "Please let the plate be recoverable, so that I can share this with others."

The Indian in the army coat squats in unison with Oswald...but pulls a knife and points it in the scientist's general direction as he does so. He waves the blade over the broken plate, just daring Oswald to reach further.

"Heya, heya, heya." He says, every syllable dripping with mockery. "None of that, now. Don'tchum know who we are? Show'um some respect, paleface. You're in the presence of heap big chief Pale Moon now. If you're gonna go down on your knees, better genuflect and praise him for sparing your worthless life instead of him string'um you up'a one of them poles."

The blade is close enough to Oswald that he can make it out clearly. Alternating his vision from the knife, to the Native holding it, and then back to the knife, Oswald slowly stands up whilst moving backwards.

"You are the Pale Moon that Ghost Wolf spoke of?" Oswald asked, looking at the Native in the headdress. "He informed me that you are the reason that I was brought here, and fortunate enough to still be alive. That you had a vision of the moon weeping tears of silver, and that I was one of those tears. However he never explained to me why I was brought here before you."

The man in the headdress barks something at the one with the knife, who scoops up the pieces of the plate and presents it to him. The chief fits the pieces together and looks at the picture, then finally looks at Oswald.

"<I am Pale Moon, Shaman and Leader of this band.>" he says in Cherokee. "<Ghost Wolf tells me you can speak in the tongue of the Tsalagi. If you wish to speak with me, we shall use this language, and not the barbaric filth that spews from white mouths.>"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:11, Fri 04 Nov 2011.

Oslwad replies in Cherokee. "<I will speak with you so. I proposed it to Ghost Wolf, but he wanted to speak in English instead. In what way may I be of service to you Pale Moon, Shaman and Leader?>"

"<Very well. Ghost Wolf says you have devices. Devices of science.>" Pale Moon says, the English word coming from his lips like a curse. "<Know that while I despise such things, your science may be useful in saving many lives of my warriors. You can make paintings that last. I want you to paint my warriors. Preserve them with your paintings. The paintings will take the wounds they suffer into them, keep the warriors safe. This is my will. You will do this for me.>"

"<I do indeed have devices, and will take the pictures of your warriors for you. However, it will not protect them from harm, as that is not how it works. It is the image of how they are at that moment, nothing more.>"

Oswald then points at his gear. "<I only have so many photographic plates, and once I run out I cannot take more photographs.>"

Pale Moon nods over to the man with the knife, who hops over to Oswald, grabs him roughly by the arm and raises his blade to the scientist's neck.

"<Then you will figure out how to make this so.>" Pale Moon says. "<Or I will let Charging Bear do as he wills with you. Your science has helped the white man despoil our lands and take all that should rightfully belong to The People. It is only fitting that the white man's tools be turned against him. If you cannot or will not do this, then you are useless and will be discarded. Do not say this cannot be done. I have had a vision. Two silver tears drop from the moon, to be gathered by The People. Washed by the tears, The People turn silver themselves. Bow, blade, or bullet will not harm them, and they ride to victory. This has Mirror Serpent promised. This you shall do. Or you will die.>" The chief looks up at the overcast sky. "<Soon it will be dark. If you have not done this by sundown, I will let Charging Bear stick you on a pole and cut away your limbs.>" Then he turns, and walks away.

The Indian with the knife at Oswald's neck laughs. "Well, well, well. Look'um like you're screwed, Pale Face. Should I start carving now?"

((OOC: ;) And you were lamenting about having nothing to spend your chips on...I figure either faking something good enough to fool him or actually coming up with some Weird Science way to do as he asks is dramatic enough for a Dramatic Task, which means you might need those chips to avoid very bad rolls.))
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Tue 08 Nov 2011.

((OOC: I shall have a good think on what I can do to try and think of on the spot to get away with this! I imagine some of the Weird Science related Professional Edges would have been helpful here, shame they don't suit what I have in mind for Oswald...
Just didn't want you to think I had fallen asleep or anything, hehe.))

In reply to Dr. Oswald Franklin (msg #26):

((OOC: Trick photography to create Comanche versions of the Picture of Dorian Gray isn't covered by existing edges or powers, methinks. Come up with your plan, I'll figure out what you need to roll to pull it off.))

((OOC: If you're stuck and would like some suggestions as you form your plan, you can make some knowledge rolls. Common Knowledge (on photography), Knowledge (Science), and Weird Science are all applicable in this, though i don't know if you're planning on actually doing as Pale Moon says or only trying to bluff him into believing you're doing as he says.))