Summary
Hector, one of the five rats who lives in the cellars, wakes up testily in his cell. He remembers when he arrived in Metamor Keep, part of a caravan that had gotten lost in the woods outside the keep. When they reached the keep, they planned only a couple days to regroup, but the time outside counted as well, and Hector was the first and only member to change, forcing him to stay behind. He used to be a flirtatious man and a talented woodcarver; now he hides in shame of his appearance, and is unable to properly manipulate the knife with his new paws. Most of all, he resents Matthias for pretending to be happy with his form.
When Matthias visits that morning, Hector is determined to speak out against him. But this time, unlike other times, Matthias chooses to ignore Hector, and talks to the other rats about the upcoming Easter-Vernal Equinox. As soon as the meeting ends, Hector storms to his room and slams the door, and sets to work on scribing, the only skill he has left.
Matthias visits him privately, asking again what's wrong, and Hector almost blows him off before he relents and asks for his counsel. Matthias asks why he's stopped making his beautiful sculptures, and Hector replies that his hands are no good for carving. As Matthias whittles his chewing stick with his teeth, he suggests that he find another way.
In shocked silence, Hector waits for Matthias to leave, and begins chewing a large stick with his teeth. When he fills in as much detail as he can with his teeth, he strips down and begins shrinking to his full form, chewing the stick with ever finer detail as he does. Finally, after finishing his work at his smallest size, he sits back and beholds his newest creation: a sculpture of a morphic rat.
Characters
Main Characters:
- Hector: A copyist and a rat morph, a former sculptor. Of the eight rats in the Keep, he is the second most recent arrival. With a revelation from Charles, he learns to sculpt with his teeth.
- As a rat, he is a little taller than Charles, but still only as tall as a child. His paws are not as functional as Charles's are. He has gray fur.
- Before he was a rat, he prided himself on his appearance, and had affairs with multiple women. He had been tall.
- He arrived at the Keep a little over a year ago as part of a caravan. They were split up after being attacked by a beast, and he and his companions wandered through the woods until they reached Metamor Keep. They only stayed a few days to regroup, but their time in the Valley also counted. Hector alone was cursed, and forced to stayed behind.
- Charles Matthias: A rat morph, and Headmaster of the Writer's Guild. Every morning he visits the rats in the cellar and keeps them informed of life in the Keep.
- He wears a tan shirt with a white vest over it.
Minor characters:
- Saulius: A rat morph and a former knight. He is still bandaged from his injuries.
- He does not plan on attending the Festival due to his injuries.
- Elliot: A rat morph. He has a patch of red fur on his shoulder from an experiment with Pascal. He pretends to accept being a rat, but has a tendency to put off gnawing to the last moment.
- He promises to attend the Festival.
- Goldmark: A rat morph. He enjoys being a rat, and often shifts in-between his morph form and feral form, using his form to steal food.
- As a morph, he is three feet tall and has black fur.
- He plans to attend the Festival, mostly as a pure rat, stealing food.
- Julian: A rat morph. He is quiet and shy, only speaking when spoken to.
- He was pure white fur and a pinkish tail.
- He promises to attend the Festival.
Important Mention:
- Kimberly: Matthias's beloved, a rat morph, one of the more recent arrivals to the Keep.
- Tallis: A rat morph and writer. He is the only rat, besides Charles, who has some acceptance of being a rat, and so lives above ground.
Referenced:
- Pascal: The Keep alchemist. She experimented on Elliot, giving him a patch of red fur.
Locations
- Hector's meager cell contains the following: an oil lantern hanging from an iron hook, a bench and a desk with quill pen and parchment in one corner (and a figurine of himself as a human in the drawer), a dresser with three pairs of clothing in the other, and a bed on the far wall. There is a patch of moss on one wall, caused by dripping water, that Hector periodically cleans off.
Chronology
- In 705, Hector's caravan was split up by beasts.
- They wandered through the woods for days before they reached the Keep. The caravan decided to replenish their supplies and leave in 2 or 3 days.
- 2 or 3 days later, Hector was cursed as a rat morph. The rest of the caravan seemed to have avoided animal curses and left him behind.
- Last week, the events of Facing Knight took place. Saulius has been regaining some sanity since then.
Points of Interest
- There are carpenters at the Keep, but no sculptors of wood.
- Here, the feral form is referred to as a "norm form".
