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[the image on the lockets is clearly from inside the cave system that whole moon hunt is taking place in. jason seems to be taking a break, and while he's pretty dirty and scuffed up (and definitely not enjoying being underground), he attempts a smile anyway.]

I know Nico and Rachel were talking about us doing the whole Greco-Roman myth storytime thing regularly, when he shared the whole "Hades and Persephone" story the other month, and switching off between Greek and Roman stories, and I guess since I'm still our token Roman, I might as well do a Roman myth.

[he's babbling a little. sorry.]

To be honest, most of the Roman myths are just Greek ones with the names changed, but the story of Romulus and Remus is all Roman. Mostly because it was their way of explaining why Rome was the most powerful city in the world.

[which is...honestly a pretty roman kind a thing to do. at the very least, none of the other demigods plus rachel should be surprised.]

So there was a princess named Rhea Silvia. Her uncle, this guy named Amulius, seized power and had all the legitimate male heirs killed so no one can challenge him. Rhea Silvia was dating the god of war, Mars, and she ended up giving birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus.

Amulius was scared that Romulus and Remus would grow up and overthrow him, so he had them put in a basket and abandoned to die in the Tiber River. Y'know because that worked out great in the hundred other stories where they just abandon the baby out in the wilderness somewhere and hope it'll die.

[seriously. atalanta? oedipus? ion? that shit never works and no one ever learns.]

So anyway, the river just carries them to safety, and they're found by a female wolf called Lupa who raises them for a while. She's, uh, actually still around, and still trains new Roman demigods. They're just not usually babies these days. I spent a while with her when I was little, but I think most people go to her when they're a bit older, and just for a few months before they're sent to the Roman camp.

[he's getting off track. jason's mouth twists, stretching the little scar at the corner of his lips, and his shakes his head and continues.]

Anyway, so eventually Lupa left Romulus and Remus for a shepard to find, and they were raised by him and and wife until they grew up. They eventually find out the truth about everything and go kill Amulius, but instead of taking over a co-kings, they decided to make their own city instead.

So they found a place they liked for their city, but they couldn't agree which hill to put it on. They argued about it a lot and looked for signs from the gods to decide who was right, but they even disagreed about the results of that and eventually Romulus just started building the wall of his new city.

Remus was annoyed and started making fun of his brother's wall and jumped over the wall to point out how easy it was to get over, and Romulus was so angry he killed Remus. Romulus went on to finish his city and named it "Rome" after himself.

[jason looks more than a little embarrassed at his own roman-ness, now that he's actually going through the details of this dumb story. this was clearly a mistake.]

So...yeah. I guess it's supposed to mean that Rome is the best city ever because it was founded by a demigod, but in hindsight I'm not sure why everyone's so proud of a founded who killed his own brother because they had a really stupid argument. But Rome did go on to become the most powerful city in the world for over a thousand years, so...whatever.

[jason frowns, glancing away. okay, so maybe storytime was kind of a stupid idea. he'd just wanted a distraction from the whole "hanging out in uncle hades' domain for an extended period of time" thing, alright?]

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[ So, so weird. A machine shaped like a dragon? That moves? That's incredible to even imagine, let alone consider as real. ]

If you're a demigod, which god is it that you take after?

[well, it's nice that for once the whole "demigod" thing isn't he most unbelievable thing here. leo can defend his pet dragon himself, maybe you guys can even bond.]

My dad is Jupiter, god of the sky.

Does that mean you can fly or ... do sky-related stuff?

[ Because that sounds super neat, yo. ]

Yup. To both questions. But we're all kinda at half-power right now, and in a cave, so you might have a wait on a demonstration.

[do you want a flying buddy while you're without your dragon. because he can totally give you a lift.]

That's amazing. [ He laughs slightly, delighted. ] I have a flightsuit that lets me glide, but I expect the real thing is pretty different when you're not a passenger.

Dude, that sounds pretty cool to me. Besides, I'm basically a passenger too. I mean, I don't really fly, I just kinda...get carried by the wind? It's kinda hard to describe.

I have a friend who flies like that, I get what you mean. Jack Frost? Yeah.

Uh.

[dude.]

You mean, like...the Jack Frost?

[that really shouldn't be so unbelievable given who his dad is, but. dude.]

Yeah, Jokul Frosti. Jack Frost, as he calls himself. [ Dude, yourself. ] What, with all this weirdness going on you think the spirit of winter's odd? C'mon. Maybe if he was the spirit of bright green acne it'd be worth cracking a surprised eye, but otherwise?

He's just a normal guy. [ Uhhh. ] Mostly. Obviously he ... he likes the ice stuff.

Edited 2014-10-22 16:50 (UTC)

[ Yes, excuse him - Leo heard Festus, so he'll be shoving Jason out of the way because this is his territory. Get out, Superman. It's the mechanic's turn to talk. ]

What Jason is trying to say is that Festus isn't just any machine, he's an automaton. [ Hear that, Grace? Automaton. Get it right. ] He was kind of going haywire when I found him, but there was something wrong with his control chip, so I fixed him up, reattached his wings, and when he fell apart, I made him the figurehead for our ship. And he's still going strong! I can't believe they ever wanted to disassemble him.

[ Can you tell he is really proud of his best dragon buddy? Because he totally is. ]

What's an automaton? How does a control 'chip' work? Like a notch on him somewhere that you have to turn with a key?

[ Actual Viking in the house. Time for the nerds to meet halfway about their passions for smithing, mechanics and dragons. ~~Ahw yiss.~~ ]

Automaton literally means "acting of one's free will," so they're basically machines that can move and act and think all on their own, but they need a control chip. Most of it's standard mechanics, but the control chip is the brain. Without that, an automaton is basically just a hunk of lifeless metal.

[ As much as he hates to admit that. ]

It's about... this big, [ Leo explains, holding up his hand with about an inch of space between his thumb and forefinger. ] There's a lot of wiring involved, but there's usually a control panel you can open up with a slot where the chip goes. For Festus, it's on the back of his head. You don't really need a key or anything, though, you just need to know how to open the panel and where the chip goes, and it only goes in one way. It's pretty simple. [ To a son of a divine mechanic, maybe. To a Viking... eh. Guess he'll find out. ]

[ Wiring makes him think of his connector to Toothless's saddle, simple cords yanking and cinching. ]

So he operates on a sort of pulley system? With the wires.

[ Which Hiccup can sort of equate with making sense, albeit without factoring in the part about the automaton moving around without someone there to control it. It's all a little beyond what little technology exists in his age and he has the feeling he's once more out of his depth with future mechanics. He really needs to hit up some books on science and modern tech, it's getting to be an itch he severely wants and needs to scratch. ]

[ Leo has to laugh at that, but it's not at all mean-spirited. ]

No, the wires are... He's got gears and stuff to help him move. The wires are like little metal cords to help send the signals from the control chip to the rest of his body, so he knows how to move or where to go and all that. They help make him work, so if they mess up, or one of the wires is broken or disconnected, whatever it was attached to won't function right - which is part of why he was out of control before I found him.

I thought that was what I said, or implied, about cords and gears and ... I really am getting this messed up, aren't I? [ Frank look of Yeaaah, I Give Up. He sighs, running a hand through his hair. ] I'll do some reading and you can get back to me on updating what you mean, it's a little like we're going in circles right now.

It's not a pulley system, though - the wires just send the orders out from the control chip.

[ He shrugs, excited to have someone to talk about this stuff with even if the guy doesn't fully get it. The guy's a Viking, right? From way back? Leo can't blame him for not understanding right away, but it sounds like he's on the right track. ]

Have you been to the Station? You might find something similar there. I didn't see any automatons while I was around, but there's plenty of stuff with control chips and wires, and they'll actually work there. Out here, it's all useless, but it might be your best bet for figuring it all out. I could show you around.

I really don't think we mean 'send the orders' in the same way, though, since the wires would be used as a pulley to physically go back and forth to do that. The way you say it, it sounds like the wires just magically tell everything what to do on their own. [ ... Hm. ] Unless that is what you mean, in which case I should make it clear magic isn't my thing, I'm a blacksmith.

[ If it can't be seen or touched, built with ones own hands, it doesn't yet exist by Viking standards. ]

I was thinking about going there, to the Station. I heard it was attacked, so ... [ #UNSURE ] Is it usually a dangerous place to be? If you'd show me around, I'd be very grateful. I'm Hiccup.

[ Leo wrinkles his nose. Magic, blah. The word makes him think of the Athena Parthenos, supposedly magical but with no useful properties on its own that he could find. It's disturbing. ] It's not magic, it's electricity. I'm a blacksmith too, dude, and I'm not a huge fan of magic, either.

It'll probably be easier to understand when you actually see it in action. The Station's usually neutral ground, though; I dunno much about it getting attacked. [ Though that is a little worrying... They'll think about that another time, though. ] I'm a little busy right now, but I'll let you know what's up. The name's Leo.

Oh, that's a relief. It seems like everything here is All Magic, All The Time.

[ Blacksmiths unite!! ]

Yeah, call me whenever. It's not like I have much going on, myself. [ Rubbing the back of his neck. ] I'll try and ferret out some books on electricity in the meantime, so I have some idea what that's all about and you won't be speaking to a wooden wall.

Ugh, I know what you mean. I'm suffering serious technological withdrawal, [ he complains. ] The Station's the only place where anything that isn't barebones none-electric mechanics will even work. Not even getting Jason to shock it does anything!

[ Yeah, he... might've asked Jason to try that once or twice. Not on the Archimedes sphere, of course, but on other things he's managed to pull from his tool belt. It's been nothing but disappointment. ]

Cool. I'll let you know!

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video / open to both courts

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sorry for the late! plot things happened and jay's tags fell by the wayside ; ;

no probs!

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