Sir Denis fitz Osbern
by Karamy
Karamy,
S't Nsw S't has come to Normandy to interview Sir Denis fitz Osbern, Chamberlain
and Captain of the Guard to Lady Adela de Rochfort. It is a lovely spring
morning and the knight has obtained his Lady's permission to walk in the
gardens as they talk. One of the things that struck the Lady of Kemet is
Sir Denis' modesty for the one comment he made (after thanking her for
her time and for the honor of being a Featured Character) was that he hoped
his answers "would be worthy." After hearing his answers, she
was very glad to tell him that there was no question that they--and he--were
more than worthy. "Should you ever choose to come to Kmt, Sir Denis,
I would be more than glad to have you in my Court."
Q: Two things jump out on your home page making a wonderful contrast: that gorgeous background and Felix the Cat pacing back and forth wondering "What to do..." Why those two things?
A: Thank you. The background was made for me by a very good friend who does some amazing things on various pages that I have seen here and there at Pan, so in truth the credit must go to Lady Gwendolen, I just have the honor of sporting one of her skins. As for Felix the Cat… Again, I can’t take credit for the .gif, Willa LeBlanc gave it to me. After I got it I started thinking ‘Where the heck can I put this little guy?’ At first I had him at the bottom of my home but then he woke me up late one night telling me he was not very happy there. So what could I do except send a truck and a couple of guys over, load up all his stuff and move him to a different part of town. I still don’t think he’s all that happy in his present ‘hood’ (that might be the reason why he’s wondering “what to do…”) but at least now he’s not complaining as much.
Q: I also noticed that you are one of the few on the Norman side of the Channel in 1066, what drew you there?
A: Simple! Normandy wins the invasion!! Yes I know it’s a shallow thing to say but somebody has to have fun at the expense of those Saxon dogs. May as well be me!
Seriously though… When I first came to 1066 it was shortly before the crash and I was asked by a very good friend to play the part of her reserved, yet tenacious Captain of the Guard. The Lady in question was already a long established character on the Norman side of the Channel so as they say, the rest is history. And to be very honest I am rather enjoying the fact that I am one of the few on this side of the coming conflict, I don’t have to try very hard for the spotlight, in fact I don’t try for the spotlight at all. I just post my posts and hope that my writing partners in 1066 can work with my posts. Besides, come after October 14, 1066 all I really will want to do is settle down with the wife who will rub my temples to ease my weary mind from a long day at the battlefield and then we’ll have a few children. What more can a man truly ask for?
Q: Some of the other 1066 folk are based on real historical figures--is your character one of them or is he a composite?
A: 1066 is a historically based novel and so we do have historically based characters running about. However Denis is not biased on any individual historical figure that I am aware of. He is more of a composite character biased on historical reality for the time and my overall interpretation of what I want to do and accomplish with this character. Because I am putting so much of my own influence into the character, Denis is a rather progressive individual in his view of things. Also he is quite literally a fish out of water in one aspect - he actively chooses to be a Pagan (the faith of his childhood) when he is surrounded on all sides by those who adhere, to greater or lesser degree, to the faith of the Church. It is this small detail that will factor in an interesting fashion in his SL as things start heating up between he and a certain flamed-haired Lady of the Court who also happens to be a Ward of the Duke and Duchess.
Q: You have two vastly different reference books that you participate in. What drew you to them?
A: Yes, Gaia's Daughters and Infinite Worlds, two very different reference novels indeed.
Infinite Worlds: I came to and am very excited about IW because I am a Scifi junkie. Yes! Admitting it IS the first step to recovery! I love to sit and watch just about anything that is Scifi TV or a Scifi movie. However, all of that being said… I can’t do Scifi books. Believe me when I tell you I have tried to read many different Scifi books and what usually happens is that I get to a certain page and the techno-babble or political intrigue or something else entirely just starts making my eyes glaze over. And I’m sure I am missing out on a lot of really good books out there too that would really expand my horizons and introduce me to worlds, characters and technologies that I could incorporate into my own Scifi writing. Yes, you read that correctly; I don’t read Scifi books… but I do write in a Scifi novel here at Pan H. *wink*
Gaia's Daughters: The way I came to GD is most likely a little different then the way most people would come to any novel or ref novel. I saw something on the daily’s one day and I just had to put in my two coppers worth. What I saw was “Letter through Time” and one of the other members had written a letter to Joan of Arc. I have always, ever since childhood, been an admirer of Joan and she and I have had many conversations over the years. Anyway, I wrote my letter, applied to the novel and was accepted and then posted my letter all in the same sixty minutes. Since that time I have been lurking in the shadows and reading the many different items that are posted there.
But of course now the big question… Why am I the only guy in GD as the membership clearly shows me surrounded on all sides by ladies? Where else can a guy go here on Pan and be surrounded by ladies?
Q: If you could create a character and novel -- be it historic, fantastic, horror or anything else -- Whom would you create and what would the novel be about?
A: You really hit on a passion of mine here. The character I would create is a character I actually already have, although he is different in his present incarnation at The Io Effect novel compared to how he was when I first created him. The character in question, Gabriel Astarte, is a very culturally complex man who came to the Britains because he was sent by his superiors to aid Queen Guinevere. As the overall focus of the Avalon novel was the religious struggle of the waning Old religion and the emergence of the New religion, I thought it would be a good novel to put him in.
So why aid the Queen and not the King you might ask, when every other male character (both literary and otherwise) wants to be of service to the King for honor and glory?
Well, that’s just it, Gabriel does not care about honor and glory in the way that many, if not all the other characters wanted honor and glory. Where Gabriel comes from (Avantasia; see below), honor and glory were second to protecting one’s good name and being of earnest value to others. Like the Roman Empire, many sons are sent away to the far corners of the Empire to get “real world” experience and also so that they are not able to rely on the family name to get them out of a jam. Hence, Gabriel was sent to a foreign land (Camelot) to seek out a foreign Queen and to be of service to her Majesty with nothing more then his own merits under his belt. Therefore when he was made a Knight of the Round Table by the Queens own hand it was an especially important moment for Gabriel; it signified that he had accomplished his goal of attaining her trust in him. Something that is infinitely more important to an Avantasian then personal glory or worldly riches.
Now what kind of a novel would I create? Avantasia. Hands down without a doubt in my mind. Avantasia is a fantasy realm yes, but to my mind it is a very rich fantasy realm. I draw on both real world empires as well as fantasy examples to create a unique blend for a novel per se; think the power and might of Rome, the honor and discipline of Japan, & the magic and wonder of Middle Earth all rolled up into one package served up with cookies & milk and you will begin to get a taste of what Avantasia is. Unlike the west or east of our planet Earth, Avantasia is a land of Queens and an Empress, a land were it is the women who hold the land and therefore the power. And although it is the men who go out and make war, it is the women who plan it on giant “chess boards” painted onto the floor of the war rooms showing the various lands both near and far. Therefore it is the women who plan and say where the armies will march and what will happen, along with when and how. It’s not to say that there aren’t Kings, there are, just not in Avantasia. And just as Rome was the glue that held the ancient world together, it is Avantasia that holds this world together and all nations pay tribute to Avantasia… But there are some nations who are not happy about it and plan the toward the fall of Avantasia.
Q: There was a TV show a while back called: "Meeting of the Minds" where four people – famous, infamous, but all gifted would be brought together for an evening's conversation. If you could choose the four (three men and one woman) who would you bring together?
A: Wow! Four people to sit and have a conversation, I wonder how interesting that conversation would be? Guess I better make some good choices then huh? I like this question because one of the names came springing to mind right away where as the others came to me with a bit of thinking. There were many choices that I considered because there are so many people that I admire from history because of so many reasons. Well okay, let me stop flapping my gums now. After some thought, these are my choices as all four people are heroes of mine for various reasons: Albert Einstein - Sun Tsu - Stevie Ray Vaughn - Joan of Arc.
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