Ashes of Tirisfal

Henri Dwos looked across the table and smiled.  There sat his beautiful wife, Claire, both having their morning meal.  Henri sat and mused a while as she looked after their son, Benjamin.  She had a way with people, and Henri had been enamored with her since the day they met, five years earlier, just after Henri became a journeyman.  Henri’s father and grandfather had both been engineers and mechanics.  They tinkered with and repaired all sorts of mechanical devices, as well as constructing a few gadgets of their own.  Henri had begun working in the shop shortly after his grandfather had passed away.  There had been plenty of work to keep both of them busy, and his father had found it difficult to run by himself.  So he took Henri on as his apprentice and taught him everything he knew.

After receiving his journeyman qualification from his father, Henri had decided to go out and celebrate that night, at the Lordaeron Tavern, with his closest friend Tomas Breaver.  Tom, as he was called by everyone except his mother, was a childhood friend of Henri’s and they had been inseparable since their youth.  Henri went over to Tom’s house and the pair walked to the tavern together.  As they entered, they discovered that it was extremely crowded, with only a few empty seats remaining in the back.  They sat down, and Tom waved the waitress over.  It took her a minute, but she made her way through the crowd, smiling as she walked up. 

“What can I get ya, boys?” she asked, her blond hair wrapping around the curves of her face.  Henri sat there stunned.  He had never met her before, but he knew, at that moment, that she would be the woman he’d marry. 

“I’ll have some of the Thunderbrew Ale,” Tom said, turning to Henri who was still staring up at the waitress.  She finished writing down Tom’s order on her note pad and looked up to see Henri staring at her, with piercing eyes.  She stood there, looking back, awkwardly, for a few moments, until a smile slowly crept across her face and she started to blush.  Henri could have continued to stare all night had Tom’s elbow not so readily found his ribs.  “Order somthin, you smilin fool,” Tom chastised him.

“Hi, I’m Henri,” he said, extending his hand.

“Hello, Henri, I’m Claire,” she answered, taking his hand.  “Can I get you a drink?” she asked, smiling again.

“I’ll have what he’s having,” Henri finally said, continuing to smile at the waitress, who smiled back as she turned away and headed back to the bar.  Henri didn’t remember much else about that night, except Claire.  They began courting three days later and were finally married two years ago.  Henri was amazed, but he could still find himself becoming lost in her azure-blue eyes.

“If you continue to sit there and stare at me all day, you’ll soon find yourself without any customers at that shop of yours,” she said, smiling wryly as she looked up at him.

“Well, with Tom and I leaving for Hearthglen tomorrow, I wanted to get a nice fresh image in my mind to take with me on the long trip,” Henri replied, still staring at his beautiful wife.  “Actually,” he said, changing the subject, and getting excited about his only other passion, engineering, “I’ve been working on a device that can actually store images on a small scroll.  That way you can look at them anywhere you go.  If you’re willing, I’d like to try to take one of you before I go.”

“And what are you calling this device?” she asked innocently, hiding the smirk creeping up at the corners of her mouth.

“Well,” he continued, “I haven’t really worked out the finer details yet…”

“But the working name you’ve given it is?” she prodded.

“Well, I’m calling it a common appearance manipulator and electric recording apparatus,” he replied, causing Claire to snicker and then break into laughter.  Henri blushed, not knowing what else to add.

“Why is it that every name you come up with has to be outrageously long?  Why not just call it a Camaera?”

“Camaera?” Henri asked, confused.

“Yes,” Claire said, “C-A-M-A-E-R-A.  Common Appearance Manipulator and Electric Recording Apparatus.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.  I think I will,” Henri said, once again beaming at his wife.  “I’ll be bringing the ‘Camaera‘ home with me tonight and if all goes well, I’ll have an image of you to bring with me on my trip.”

“That’s lovely, dear,” Claire said, walking around the table.  Sitting down on his lap, she wrapped her arms around his neck.  “But you should probably be going.  Tom is probably standing at the door of the shop cursing you for being late, yet again.”

“Goodness,” Henri said, checking his time piece.  “I’ll see you tonight, dear,” he said kissing her cheek and running out the door.  Henri ran down the street, turning a few corners until he was in the mercantile district.  After his father had passed away, Henri took over the shop full time.  But like his father before him, he found that there was too much work to handle himself, and he asked Tom if he wanted to become his apprentice.  Tom readily agreed and they’d been working together for the last three years. 

Henri slowed to a walk as he came to the side-street where his shop was located.  Sure enough, Tom was standing at the door, wearing a very sour look on his face.

“It’s about bloody time!” Tom exclaimed.  “You think that one day of the week you could actually be on time.”

“Tomorrow, Tom,” he replied casually.  “I won’t be late tomorrow.”

“Right,” Tom answered, sarcastically.  “And I’m the village idiot.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything–.”

“Just open the bloody door, already, before my brains explode.”  Henri looked at him with an odd expression on his face, but ignored it and quickly unlocked the door, stepping into the dark workshop.  He walked around the exterior, lifted the shutters from the windows and allowed the sunlight to flood into the small room.

“I’ve been thinking about the new gadget we’ve been working on,” Henri said, getting down to business.  “Claire suggested a new name; the Camaera.  What do you think?”

“I like it,” Tom answered, thinking it over.  “It goes straight to my head and tickles my brains.”

“Okay, I don’t get that,” Henri answered, looking at his apprentice with the odd look again.  “What is the deal with you always talking about your brains?  And how does hearing that name tickle them?”

“I dunno,” Tom said, “It just sounds right to me, I guess.”

“Then why not say that?” Tom shrugged and Henri shook his head as the two got down to work, making the final adjustments on the newly-dubbed Camaera.  They continued working through the day, taking breaks whenever a customer came in to have something fixed.  Most problems were readily repairable with a few minor adjustments or the replacement of a few small parts.  The ones that required a more thorough overhaul, Henri put aside to be worked on when they returned.

At the end of the day, Tom left for home early while Henri stashed the finished Camaera into the special pouch he’d made on his backpack.  Locking up the shop, he walked back through the mercantile district to where he lived.  As he opened the door and walked in, he could smell the delicious aroma of stew cooking on the fire.  He greeted Claire with a warm hug and long kiss.

“Smells delicious,” he told her.  She smiled that wry smile that he loved so much, and went back to the stew.  A few minutes later when it was ready, Henri went outside and called little Benjamin in from his games with the other children, and the three ate dinner, talking excitedly about their day.

“The Camaera is finished,” Henri told them, smiling proudly.  “And Tom loved the name, by the by.  If you have a moment, I’d like to test it out and capture your image before my trip tomorrow.”

“How safe is it?” Claire asked, suddenly growing a little concerned for her well-being.  She’d seen some of his other devices break down or even explode before, and she was worried what it might do to her.

“Oh, it’s ultra-safe,” he reassured her, “totally, completely safe.”

“It’s not going to steal my soul or set you ablaze, is it?” she joked, smiling again.

“Of course not, dear,” he replied, returning her grin.

“Alright then,” she said.  “After little Benjamin is asleep, you can test your new toy.”  Henri’s face lit up like she’d seen Benjamin’s do on the morning of Winter’s Veil that Old Father Winter left gifts for the children.  He scurried into the other room, reading Benjamin his story and tucking him into bed.

“You sleep well, my little hero,” he said.  “I’m going on a trip tomorrow, and I’ll be gone for a few weeks, but if I can sell a few of my camaeras, then I might be able to get you a little surprise from Hearthglen.”

“Really?” Benjamin answered, his expression filled with wonder.

“You get some sleep,” Henri told him as he tucked his son under the covers and kissed him goodnight.  He came out of the room a few minutes later and went right for his pack.  He opened a pouch on the side and pulled out the strange square-shaped gadget.

“Is this the infamous Camaera?” Claire asked.

“It sure is,” Henri said, grinning from ear to ear.  “Stand over there, dear,” Henri said, pointing.  Claire obliged and tried not to laugh at her husband as he toiled behind the device.  Henri turned the dials on the gadget, adjusting things just right.  “Are you ready?” he finally asked.

“Yes dear,” she said, grinning wryly at him.  Henri tweaked one last knob and then pushed the large red button on the top of the device.  There was a bright flash, followed by a large puff of smoke that was emitted from the device.

“Is it supposed to do that?” she asked, a little worried.

“Err,” Henri answered fiddling with the buttons again.  From the front of the device a small scroll emerged, with the image of Claire grinning on it.  “I suppose it is,” Henri said, beaming.  “Wonderful, now I’ll be able to see your beautiful face wherever I go!”  He held out the small scroll to show his wife, grinning proudly.

“You should be a bit more worried about yourself and Tom,” she said.  “I’ve heard reports that there are bandits out in the wilderness that attack travelers.”

“That’s what I have my dagger for,” Henri said, reaching into his pack and pulling the blade out.  “Don’t worry dear,” he continued.  “Tom and I will be fine.”

“Alright then,” she said.  “It’s time for us to retire as well.  Put your toys away.”  Henri did as she asked and the two embraced again, heading to their bed.