Joseph has a daunting task: uncover the source of the twists in reality, changing relationships and basic facts in Camelot. And a week ago, his biggest concern was bringing in the harvest...

SYNOPSIS:

Joseph is a relatively ordinary villager, living not too far from Camelot; he works on a farm, knows herbalism and woodworking, well-equipped for a young man in 10th century Britain. Catastrophe combines with eucatastrophe, when he must pacify a sapling's dryad in order to carry wood back out of the forest—and returns to find that his friend Sarah has become his best friend.

Not as a natural deepening of their relationship. It is simply suddenly true, a shift in reality. Their closeness is, in itself, completely unobjectionable, but she agrees that King Arthur must be told of this. One reality shift indicates that another might come, and the second one might not be as pleasant.

Indeed, that is exactly the case, when he comes before the Round Table as a witness. Sir Gawain's strength now fluctuates, being within human bounds after sunset and as the prowess of ten men at noon. No one but King Lot can remember his attendance in the body before, yet there he sits, miles from his kingdom.

Joseph is charged with understanding these changes, plotting their dynamics for the safety of the realm. Merlin offers counsel, and Kay offers knightly training—the young man accepts the former, but declines the latter. He believes he only has proper time for one of those pursuits in his life, and has never been particularly martially inclined anyway.

The ultimate theme here is examination of the Arthurian mythos, and using the themes of Deadlands Classic (uncertainty, the power of the unknown, humans engaging with the supernatural for various benefits), along with some mechanical elements (fear level tearing at the natural order), to explore the different versions of those tales. The relationships between the characters changed significantly in the first few centuries of literature on the matter, and that opens the door for synthesis. Camelot need not be a tragic fall, if the Round Table and its periphery accept the changes that will allow it to move forward.