Post by RomulusGloriosus on Aug 28, 2015 18:32:02 GMT -8
Jim walked past the glass sliding door to the patio which overlooked the Sound and saw Oberon sitting outside quietly and staring out at the mountains. It had been two weeks that Jim and Joleen had been living in the aerie of the Eagle of Seattle, and he had come to develop an unprecedented amount of respect for the Assamite leader. There were quite a few Elder Kindred in the city of Seattle who had grown particularly - some might say suspiciously - fond of he and his broodmate, but Jim's feelings towards all of them were mixed at best.
Ophelia and Amani were powerful and seemed to care a great deal for he and Joleen - indeed, Amani was responsible for the situation they were in now. Joleen cared a great deal for Ophelia; Jim, on the other hand, while having a lot of admiration for her and the great and terrible power that lay beyond her smile and impeccable etiquette, could never shake the feeling of deep unease that came over him whenever she spoke to him. The Setite had been a great friend to Jim's, and had offered his patronage and advice when he needed it most. It was something Jim could never truly repay to Thad, and he knew that should the Elder ever return from his 'family reunion' in Egypt, he would have to be prepared to show him that he'd done much in the time he'd been gone. Still, the Setite had made no illusions of being trustworthy. On the contrary, Jim had trusted Thad as much as he did because he knew that he had no reason to fear betrayal from the Setite - at worst, he could have expected misleading.
Herr von Klempt was, in many ways, an extension of Thad in Jim's mind. The Ventrue claimed to be older and more powerful than the Setite, and while Jim knew better now, he only knew that the former was not true - the latter could very well still have been the case, and it was not something he ever wanted to test. Jim liked Herr von Klempt, despite the opinions of the rest of the city, and he liked him even more now that he knew that all of his power and wisdom had been gained in such a, by Kindred standards, short period of time. Herr von Klempt was a Kindred who knew what he wanted, and what he wanted was power - political power, financial power, power that mortals craved. One of the things the Ventrue had said to him stuck in Jim's mind, "Time without growth is stagnation, and stagnation for the Kindred is death." The Primogen had said all of this perhaps in hopes of fostering in Jim's own dead mind an ambition equal to his own, maybe in hopes of creating a partner - a partner with claws - who would enjoy rising in Kindred society nearly as much as he did.
Maybe. For regardless of whether the Ventrue Primogen was or was not an Elder, he was still older than Jim, and had lived a completely different life from him. He'd sunk himself so deep into the world of Kindred politics that Jim thought that he would have to be torn out before he'd ever leave willingly. "What do you want then? Money? I will give you the money. Perhaps more status in our society?" What did Jim want from him? What did Jim need from him? Protection. Favor. That was all. Protection for him. Protection for Joleen. The favor of a Primogen of Clan Ventrue. So they had the favor of Lady Ophelia, Seneschal of the Emerald Domain. So they had the favor of Amani, a powerful Assamite, and her Clanmates. So Avalon, the Harpy, would sometimes spare a word or two for them - unheard of for Kindred of their status - or The Marquis would say a friendly word in French when they spoke. So Ruby, his Elder, was probably the Kindred he'd probably call his best friend...
What hurt was one more? What hurt was more powerful Kindred to look at them with eyes filled with pride? What more could a Kindred of Jim and Joleen's age ask for than that?
But Oberon was different from all of them. In Oberon, Jim saw the Elder he could be. While the rest of them squabbled amongst themselves, keeping themselves busy with nightly games of live chess to keep their existence interesting, Oberon saw his immortality and power as having purpose. It was like in The Lord of the Rings, a book Jim had read as a teenager. The rest of them were like the Elves of the Undying Lands, hiding away from the troubles of the world, and Oberon was like Gil-Galad, the High King of the Noldor, reminding them to use their age, wisdom, and power to fight the Dark Lord Sauron. Jim was pretty sure that's how it was, anyway - he briefly re-read the series back in the early 2000s when there were paperback copies in absolutely every bookstore. Oberon showed that age and power did not have to bring stagnation because there's always a bigger fish.
If you can't save yourself, why not try to save the world? Maybe that wasn't Oberon's intention. For all he knew, Oberon wanted to devour the world and be the ultimate big fish, just like all the rest of them. But from the snippets Oberon had spoken to him - the parts Jim had heard anyway, it was really difficult to understand him most of the time - it seemed that the Elder Assamite really seemed disinterested in the politics of the Camarilla, and was more focused on the mission that he and his Clanmates had taken up - a mission to fight Demons. Or something like that.
Jim wanted to fight Demons too. Not yet, though. Vampires vs. Demons sounded really awesome. Probably even more awesome than The Lord of the Rings.
Jim valued Oberon's advice, the fact that he trusted him - a neonate - enough to share with him the happenings of the Court, for inviting him into his home, and most importantly, his indifference. Jim didn't feel like Oberon had any need for him or Joleen. He had no reason to assume that he was a political pawn in Oberon's scheme to take over the city. Maybe he saw Jim and Joleen as future footsoldiers in his war against the Demons, but that was super awesome anyway. Really, Jim felt, and honestly, really felt, that Oberon actually cared about the two of them.
Jim valued that more than anything else, even if it wasn't even true. 'Thank you.' The Gangrel turned away from the glass door and continued on into the den. Whiskey had left, and Joleen was out in the pool or something, so he turned on the TV and sat back to enjoy some re-runs of Charles in Charge solo.
Ophelia and Amani were powerful and seemed to care a great deal for he and Joleen - indeed, Amani was responsible for the situation they were in now. Joleen cared a great deal for Ophelia; Jim, on the other hand, while having a lot of admiration for her and the great and terrible power that lay beyond her smile and impeccable etiquette, could never shake the feeling of deep unease that came over him whenever she spoke to him. The Setite had been a great friend to Jim's, and had offered his patronage and advice when he needed it most. It was something Jim could never truly repay to Thad, and he knew that should the Elder ever return from his 'family reunion' in Egypt, he would have to be prepared to show him that he'd done much in the time he'd been gone. Still, the Setite had made no illusions of being trustworthy. On the contrary, Jim had trusted Thad as much as he did because he knew that he had no reason to fear betrayal from the Setite - at worst, he could have expected misleading.
Herr von Klempt was, in many ways, an extension of Thad in Jim's mind. The Ventrue claimed to be older and more powerful than the Setite, and while Jim knew better now, he only knew that the former was not true - the latter could very well still have been the case, and it was not something he ever wanted to test. Jim liked Herr von Klempt, despite the opinions of the rest of the city, and he liked him even more now that he knew that all of his power and wisdom had been gained in such a, by Kindred standards, short period of time. Herr von Klempt was a Kindred who knew what he wanted, and what he wanted was power - political power, financial power, power that mortals craved. One of the things the Ventrue had said to him stuck in Jim's mind, "Time without growth is stagnation, and stagnation for the Kindred is death." The Primogen had said all of this perhaps in hopes of fostering in Jim's own dead mind an ambition equal to his own, maybe in hopes of creating a partner - a partner with claws - who would enjoy rising in Kindred society nearly as much as he did.
Maybe. For regardless of whether the Ventrue Primogen was or was not an Elder, he was still older than Jim, and had lived a completely different life from him. He'd sunk himself so deep into the world of Kindred politics that Jim thought that he would have to be torn out before he'd ever leave willingly. "What do you want then? Money? I will give you the money. Perhaps more status in our society?" What did Jim want from him? What did Jim need from him? Protection. Favor. That was all. Protection for him. Protection for Joleen. The favor of a Primogen of Clan Ventrue. So they had the favor of Lady Ophelia, Seneschal of the Emerald Domain. So they had the favor of Amani, a powerful Assamite, and her Clanmates. So Avalon, the Harpy, would sometimes spare a word or two for them - unheard of for Kindred of their status - or The Marquis would say a friendly word in French when they spoke. So Ruby, his Elder, was probably the Kindred he'd probably call his best friend...
What hurt was one more? What hurt was more powerful Kindred to look at them with eyes filled with pride? What more could a Kindred of Jim and Joleen's age ask for than that?
But Oberon was different from all of them. In Oberon, Jim saw the Elder he could be. While the rest of them squabbled amongst themselves, keeping themselves busy with nightly games of live chess to keep their existence interesting, Oberon saw his immortality and power as having purpose. It was like in The Lord of the Rings, a book Jim had read as a teenager. The rest of them were like the Elves of the Undying Lands, hiding away from the troubles of the world, and Oberon was like Gil-Galad, the High King of the Noldor, reminding them to use their age, wisdom, and power to fight the Dark Lord Sauron. Jim was pretty sure that's how it was, anyway - he briefly re-read the series back in the early 2000s when there were paperback copies in absolutely every bookstore. Oberon showed that age and power did not have to bring stagnation because there's always a bigger fish.
If you can't save yourself, why not try to save the world? Maybe that wasn't Oberon's intention. For all he knew, Oberon wanted to devour the world and be the ultimate big fish, just like all the rest of them. But from the snippets Oberon had spoken to him - the parts Jim had heard anyway, it was really difficult to understand him most of the time - it seemed that the Elder Assamite really seemed disinterested in the politics of the Camarilla, and was more focused on the mission that he and his Clanmates had taken up - a mission to fight Demons. Or something like that.
Jim wanted to fight Demons too. Not yet, though. Vampires vs. Demons sounded really awesome. Probably even more awesome than The Lord of the Rings.
Jim valued Oberon's advice, the fact that he trusted him - a neonate - enough to share with him the happenings of the Court, for inviting him into his home, and most importantly, his indifference. Jim didn't feel like Oberon had any need for him or Joleen. He had no reason to assume that he was a political pawn in Oberon's scheme to take over the city. Maybe he saw Jim and Joleen as future footsoldiers in his war against the Demons, but that was super awesome anyway. Really, Jim felt, and honestly, really felt, that Oberon actually cared about the two of them.
Jim valued that more than anything else, even if it wasn't even true. 'Thank you.' The Gangrel turned away from the glass door and continued on into the den. Whiskey had left, and Joleen was out in the pool or something, so he turned on the TV and sat back to enjoy some re-runs of Charles in Charge solo.
