Story name: A Fresh Start
Author: Landon
Publication date: July 6, 2008 (MKGuild)
Date: Autumn 706 CR
Location: Metamor Valley, Metamor Keep (Watch headquarters, Jesreg's quarters)
Overview
Intimidated by the Keep patrols, young Jesreg of Lorland decides to join the Watch.
Summary
Jesreg is a 14-year-old boy from Lorland, who has recently finished his change into a mouse morph, and eager to move away from the paranoia and danger of Lorland. A female patrol leader startles him as she asks his business. He says he plans to become a man-at-arms at the Keep. The woman, Jenna, doubts someone his size can join, despite the counterarguments of her squadmates. Because their relief is due to arrive soon, they let him wait with them. Jesreg notices that they are all human, and worries about his chances, but they soon reveal that it is so that trade caravans are not threatened by animal morphs.
Soon after the new patrol arrives, and Jesreg and Jenna's patrol sets off for the Keep, they are attacked by Lutins. Jesreg knocks one out and kills another, taking his spear as a trophy. The guards compliment Jesreg's skill, but kill the remaining Lutin.
At the Keep, Jesreg overhears two guards complain about the patrols taking all of their Watch members, forcing them to take long hours. Jesreg volunteers to join, and is sent to the Watch house, where he soon meets the captain of the Watch. Before he can introduce himself, he sees an assassin fire an arrow from the ramparts, and shoves the captain aside just in time. The assassin, armed with a repeater crossbow, fires arrow upon arrow upon the guards, who hide behind their desks. Jesreg waits until the assassin has only one arrow left before using himself as a distraction, and telling another guard to fire. The assassin is hit, but flees. The captain leads two of his Watch members, and Jesreg, to pursue. Jesreg ducks into an alcove and waits for the assassin to run past, before knocking them down to the floor. He is surprised when he recognizes the assassin, Andy. The other guards arrive to arrest the assassin, and the Watch captain happily welcomes him to the Watch.
Jesreg enters his bare quarters, and finally has a smoke. He rereads a letter from his mysterious mentor and father figure Fenton, who left only this letter to say goodbye. He opens the desk to put it inside, and is surprised that another letter from Fenton is inside. Fenton confirms that he has not left him, that as Jesreg suspected he has the gift of foresight, and that he will continue to write letters to him. He also encloses a ring, part of a set that belonged to Jesreg's father. When Jesreg puts it on, he suddenly has visions of stopping time for a crowd, of fighting alongside a wolf priestess, and of being hanged from a cross. Jesreg drops the ring in a panic, and decides to go to sleep, expecting a busy day tomorrow.
Characters
Main Characters:
- Jesreg: A mouse morph from Lorland. He moves to Metamor to become a soldier, and ends up joining the Watch. He receives a magic ring from Fenton, which is to play an important role in the future.
- He is 14 years old, and is 4 feet tall. He is armed with a blackjack, a leather sap filled with sand (and later a Lutin's staff, tied to his back). On his belt, he carries a pouch containing string, his last letter from Fenton, and his smoking tools: a lighter made of tin and a flint striker, white cloth wraps, and "leaf" (presumably tobacco).
- The ring Fenton gives him is made of silver, with an eye-shaped diamond with small emeralds inside in a spiral shape. When he tries on, he sees visions of himself using the ring to stop time on others, among other visions.
- He has learned how to fight stealthily, in the dark, and in close quarters. He is skilled at detecting scents and recognizing sounds of patrols.
- When he was 10, he went on his first "mission". It sickened him, but he had learned to avoid getting drunk in Lorland, believing that he will be targeted for murder. Instead, he took up smoking.
- He is 14 years old, and is 4 feet tall. He is armed with a blackjack, a leather sap filled with sand (and later a Lutin's staff, tied to his back). On his belt, he carries a pouch containing string, his last letter from Fenton, and his smoking tools: a lighter made of tin and a flint striker, white cloth wraps, and "leaf" (presumably tobacco).
Supporting Characters:
- Johnson: A rottweiler morph, the captain of the Watch. His life is saved by Jesreg.
- Johnson is more explicitly named in an earlier draft of the story (see Behind the Scenes). Here, his name is only mentioned once without any introduction or association with the Watch captain.
Minor Characters:
- Jenna: A female gendermorph, a patrol leader. Her patrol meets caravans arriving in Metamor. She is the first to meet Jesreg on the road.
- She wears a leather suit over chainmail. She carries a bow, with a sword at her hip.
- A male gendermorph in Jenna's patrol. He thinks Jesreg is too young to be smoking. After the attack by Lutins, he kills an unconscious Lutin, justifying that the Lutin would have done the same to them.
- Sander: A member of the Watch, either a teenager or a child morph who defaults to teenage appearance. He dislikes guarding, preferring criminal investigation, but was forced to due to lack of Watch members.
- He carries a tabard of the Watch.
- A child morph, a member of the watch. He tells Sander about the growing criminal underground. Like Sander, he is happy that Jesreg is volunteering to the Watch.
- He carries a tabard of the Watch.
- Andy: A gendermorph who attacks the Watchhouse, and Johnson in particular. Once Jesreg gets close enough, he recognizes him. He is captured and expected to be questioned.
- There are two places where he is erroneously referred to with female pronouns ("her arrow", "her shins"), leftover from a previous draft (see Behind the Scenes).
- He is hit in the shins by Jesreg's spear, and in the head by Jesreg's blackjack. He is then taken to the dungeon, with Brian Coe to check on his wounds.
- He uses a "repeater" that can shoot arrows at a fast rate, powerfully enough to break through an oak desk several dozen feet away. This mechanical bow can hold a casing of 7 arrows at a time, releasing it once emptied. The bow is dropped and left behind on the ramparts.
Cameo:
- The two Lutins who attack Jesreg:
- One who carried a knife. He was knocked out by Jesreg's blackjack, and killed by a guard.
- He was three and a half feet tall. He was like a human, but with long ears and a nose. His clothes were greasy, and he smelled unwashed.
- One who threw a spear at Jesreg. Jesreg killed him by through the previous Lutin's knife through his neck.
- The spear has a solid ashwood shaft, with a steel spearhead that resembles a dagger embedded into the wood. Its edges broaden at the shift like an axe. It is slightly rusty, but the material is good-quality.
- One who carried a knife. He was knocked out by Jesreg's blackjack, and killed by a guard.
- Philip & Thomas, who pursue the assassin with Johnson and Jesreg.
- A Watch member who is shot in the side by the assassin. They are referred to with male and female pronouns, though mostly female.
- Various other members of the Watch, who may or may not be the previous Watch members:
- A well-dressed man in commoner clothes (possibly a uniform), the receptionist for the watchhouse;
- A guard working on a poisoned medicine incident.
Important Mention:
- Fenton: Jesreg's mentor and surrogate father. He disappeared recently, leaving Jesreg only a letter wishing him well. He leaves another letter and a magic ring in the desk in Jesreg's room, confirming that he has the gift of foresight, and will continue writing to Jesreg.
- He particularly fears "the wolf", "the cross", and "the elements". The first two are possible references to Raven; "the elements" could refer to elemental magic, Dvalin, or something else.
- He also fears "their" wrath if they discover he has foresight, again referring either to the Lothanasi, Lorland authorities, or even the Ecclesia.
- Jesreg's father. He wasn't a good father to Jesreg. He found Fenton strange.
- He owned something called "the four", of which the ring Jesreg receives was one of. Jesreg remembers it was one of his father's "toys".
Referenced:
- Saulius: The rat knight who participated in the last tourney.
- Charles: A rat morph who ran the Writer's Guild, and now serves in Metamor's special forces, according to rumor.
- Jaquelin: One of Jenna's squadmates, who is stabbed in the Lutin ambush but still able to walk.
- Lord Loriod: The former ruler of Lorland.
- Nasoj: The evil wizard who cursed Metamor Valley.
- The Duke of Metamor Keep.
- Brian: The Keep's physician.
- A wolf priestess, seen in one of Jesreg's visions. Almost certainly Raven, the Keep's Lothanasi high priestess.
- Fenton possibly fears her; see Fenton's entry.
Locations
- Jesreg's room is plain and small, with a bed and short dresser along one wall, and a lightly varnished wooden desk on the opposite wall.
- Inside the desk on Jesreg's arrival is a padded envelope containing letter from Fenton, and a ring.
- Lorland is described as a place of fear and death, smelling of cheap booze, oil (for sheathed daggers), and blood that has been recently cleaned up. It has many loyalists who plot against its people, who in turn resent them in silence.
- The Watchhouse is in the Keep itself. The door has an iron handle about 3 feet from the ground. The office just inside has several desks and a large back window made of glass overlooking the ramparts.
- Though there will be more than one Watchhouse mentioned in the future, perhaps the Keep's watchhouse is the most understaffed?
Society
- Metamor welcomes caravans with gendermorphs only, so as not to scare outsiders.
- According to Jesreg, animorphs cannot wear boots.
- The people of Metamor were famous, even before the curse, for their martial prowess.
- The Keep is mentioned to change randomly, but people will arrive at their destination if they think of it — a common but not consistent trait in MK stories.
- The symbol of the Watch is a lantern.
- The Watch is currently losing its members to the regulars for patrols. All unimportant guard posts have been abandoned, and those remaining are forced to take long shifts.
- Among its responsibilities are criminal investigations.
- There are currently reports of criminals taking advantage of the understaffed Watch. Some fear that criminals will organize.
Chronology
- It is currently autumn.
- Recently, poisoned medicine was discovered, arriving via caravan from the nearest port outside the curse (which would be Menth). There are no leads, and not enough guards to check the caravans.
- There have recently been scattered Lutin raids on caravans.
- One of Fenton's predictions is that "he" will guard Jesreg, or the shadows will. Either could refer to John Thesmere's upcoming friendship with Jesreg.
- One of Jesreg's visions involves Jesreg dying on a cross, with the eye symbol of his ring nailed above him.
Story Connections
- An overview of the Battle of Three Gates is given, covered in other stories.
- The Watch has not been mentioned as been overworked and understaffed before, but there was earlier concern by the Watch about criminals organizing in Llyn's Tribulations. The increased raids on caravans, as well as increasing criminal activity, could also refer to Bill Keiffer's stories, such as Tuesday and Saturday.
Behind the Scenes
- In 1999, Fox Dragonrite posted a series of non-canon stories featuring a lich named John Thesmere, with Jesreg as a supporting character. In 2008, Fox Dragonrite, now going by Landon Fox, met Charles Matthias at Anthrocon and found out Metamor Keep was still active. The title "A Fresh Start" thus refers to two things: to Jesreg's attempt at making a new life for himself, and Landon's attempt to build a new story arc for his characters.
- An earlier draft of this story had a few important differences:
- Jesreg did not smoke, though he still avoided alcohol.
- The assassin was a woman, who only fired one shot before fleeing. Jesreg does not recognize her.
- Jesreg used illusion magic to blend into the alcove, instead of relying on his small size alone.
- After the attack, Johnson introduced himself and took Jesreg to the Deaf Mule, where they met Charles Matthias and talked a bit about Jesreg's past. Much of this information has since been better integrated into the final draft's narration. Not included, though:
- Jesreg's father was a Loriod loyalist, and the one who pressed Jesreg into service. Jesreg also saved a wizard from thugs a few years ago, which is how he became his friend and taught him some illusion spells.
- There was no ring or letters from Fenton. Instead, inside Jesreg's dresser was a miniature shrine to Shygarth, with a thimble that would gradually refill with "blood oil" that Jesreg could drink to replenish his mana.
