Getting Away From the Party, by Ryx

Story name: Getting Away From the Party
Author: Ryx

Date: October 27-28, 706 CR
Location: Metamor Keep, Glen Avery

Overview

Llyn warns Murikeer about the upcoming harvest festival. He travels to Glen Avery to avoid it.

+ Story info - Spoilers!

Summary

It has only been a couple of hours that Murikeer has visited Llyn today, and so he is surprised when she tells him to leave. She clarifies that she means to leave before the harvest festival begins; Metamor will be very crowded then, and she doesn't want him staying here in his tower or the library all the time. She suggests Glen Avery, as it is close and Jurmas would let him stay for free. Although Murikeer doesn't want to leave Llyn, she promises that Dream will keep her company. The two embrace through the bars and playfully nip at each other.

The next day, partway through his walk, Murikeer rides with an antelope and some horse morphs to Glen Avery. The head stewart of Glen Avery's Inn, Tereval, recognizes him and quickly welcomes him in, explaining that Jurmas is away for the festival. He shows Muri to a lavish suite, claiming it is the only room they have left — they in fact have plenty of other rooms available. Tereval offers anything to eat; Murikeer says he'd just like some privacy.

After a simple but satisfying meal, Murikeer reads some books from Rickkter. The crowds below slowly gather, distracting him. Murikeer considers casting a silence spell over them, but decides instead to take a break and have dinner.

Characters

Main Characters:

• Murikeer: A teenage skunk mage, Llyn's lover. Llyn recommends he travel to Glen Avery for the Harvest Festival. There, he plans to study some magic books from Rickkter and quietly practice his magic. As thanks for fixing a cistern months ago, he is given a suite at the Mountain Hearth.
  • Since Llyn's arrest, he has spent almost all of his time outside Llyn's cell, reading books or practicing his illusions.
  • He can easily cast silence spells of various strengths.

Supporting Characters:

• Llyn: A mink morph, a Long Scout, Murikeer's lover. She is currently in prison for raising a magic sword against the Keep.
  • She sits mostly nude to avoid soiling her own clothes.
• Tereval: A lynx morph, the head steward of the Mountain Hearth Inn, left to manage the Inn after Jurmas left for the Festival. He greets Murikeer and shows him to a room.
  • He has a gray-furred muzzle and gleaming white teeth.
  • He is a Follower, and proud of resisting the new animal-like behaviors others have adopted, though he claims not to judge others for such.
    • He sees the family of 17 equines who live together as a strange social behavior, necessary to keep them sane.
  • He addresses Murikeer rather formally. He seems aware of Murikeer's modesty, and claims that they have only the one suite for him.

Minor Characters:

• A group of 6 horse morphs who work as carthorses to deliver goods. They haul a cart of ale, flour, corn meal, and potatoes to Glen Avery.
  • They are part of an extended family of 17 equine morphs. Tereval calls them nice, and good people before the curse, but a strange family, and refers to them as "polygamites" — though it doesn't seem to be their name, or necessarily an indication that they practice polygamy (possibly Tereval's own attitude towards them).
  • Five of them can shift into midform.
  • The sixth, a female, has been stuck as a talking animal since the day of the curse. She has gradually learned to accept it.

Cameo:

• The cave scorpion morph and jailer. He wryly suggested moving Muri into an empty cell.
• Yrigoll: An antelope morph, who rode with the horses to Glen Avery, joined by Murikeer halfway through. He calls himself "Yuri".
  • He is described as young and effusive.

Important Mention:

• Dream: A pine marten morph, a minstrel, Llyn's former lover, and secretly a Dream Walker. He visits Llyn often, both in person and in her dreams, where he plays music and tells jokes.
  • He is flirty with both women and men. He is a reliable friend to Llyn.
• Jurmas Sapere: A deer morph, innkeeper of the Mountain Hearth, Glen Avery's only inn. He went to Metamor Keep to visit the Festival, and left his Inn to be managed by Tereval.
• Rickkter: A raccoon morph, a battle mage, Murikeer's associate. He gave Murikeer some books to read during his stay at Glen Avery.
  • In a week's time, he plans to teach Murikeer a ritual that will require intense steady focus.

Locations

• The dungeons are dark, dim, and stale. Llyn's cell is at the far end of the hall, and adjoins it by a set of iron bars wide enough to reach through. Although few possessions are allowed, Llyn has a stool and a rasp in her cell.
  • • Note the differences from Charles's cell or Wicker's cell, where the cell is separated from the dungeon halls by a door.
• Glen Avery is a few hours walk/horse-ride from Metamor Keep.
• The nearby mountains of Glen Avery have deep extensive caverns that connect each and every Glen Avery structure at some point.
• The Mountain Hearth Inn is Glen Avery's only inn.
  • The porch goes around the front and sides of the building. Its floor is kept cleanly swept. Around the porch are various periphernalia, such as baskets, broken wheels, old wood saws, windchimes, and old antlers hanging from the beams.
  • The Inn has 4 stories; the bottom three for residencies, the 4th floor for storage. The main hall of the Inn has 2 floors visible, with a vaulted ceiling that occupies most of the 3rd floor.
    • The 2nd floor is reached by stairs near the front doors along the walls, leading to a balcony around the sides and the back of the Inn. The stairs to the 3rd floor are behind a door on the far side of the Inn. Opposite the front doors, on the 2nd floor, is a pair of tall broad intricate carved doors, beyond which is a corridor of rock walls, polished hardwood floors, and a mixed rock and wood ceiling.
    • The 3rd floor has 3 small balconies visible from the main hall, leading to 3 suites. These rooms offer a great deal of privacy, and are normally for only the wealthiest or prestigious of guests.
      • Stairs to the 3rd floor rooms are accessed by doors in the 2nd floor corridor inside the mountain.
      • Murikeer's room on the 3rd floor has 2 windows in the far wall, looking out at Glen Avery. A very large canopy bed sits in the middle of the room, with a large trunk at its foot. There is a tasseled cord by the door to pull for service.
    • The 4th floor is mostly attic space, with overflow billeting.
  • Most rooms do not have a window or balcony outside; they are carved into the mountain.

Society

• There are two autumnal festivals in Metamor: the Autumn Festival that takes place in September near the equinox, and the Harvest Festival.
  • The Harvest Festival usually lasts 3 days in Metamor. In the Keep itself, it lasts 5 days, until the dawn after Daedra'kema (October 30th), so that everyone can prepare for it. The Keep's festival is biggest, attracting visitors from elsewhere in the Valley, but other towns in Metamor have their own smaller festivals.
• The Mountain Hearth Inn currently has over a dozen rooms available, not including the 3 suites, which is a decent-sized crowd for a festival.
• Large crowds interfere with local magic.

Chronology / Story Connections

• Llyn worries that Murikeer will be targeted by daedra for ruining their plans; see the Watchwood Cycle.
• Murikeer fixed Jurmas's cistern in Mending a Crack and A New Wardrobe, and Jurmas offered him a free room whenever he wanted; this is what Llyn refers to here.
  • The lynx is briefly seen in "Mending a Crack" in the kitchens.
• The circumstances behind the battle in the follower chapel, and Llyn's incarceration and sentencing, are described in Llyn's Tribulations.
• On October 27th, Llyn tells Murikeer that he should leave Metamor, as the Harvest Festival, which lasts 5 days, will begin in 2 days.
  • It seems that the Harvest Festival has been postponed a few days.
• On October 28th, Yrigoll rides with the "polygamite" horses to Glen Avery. Murikeer gets a ride from them, and begins his stay at the Mountain Hearth.
  • The crowd in the Inn's main hall swells from 7 at 2 tables, to 30 by the evening.
• One week from now, Rickkter will teach Murikeer a magic ritual.
• Llyn will be in prison for many more days, until close to winter.

The Introductions Cycle
Stories	The Glen · Mending a Crack · A New Wardrobe · Arrival at Metamor Keep · Clearing the Courtyard · Meeting Metamor Keep · Seeking Absolution · Triumphant Return the Dogs of War · Actions and Reactions · Dissuasion · Dangerous Games · Seeking Mithril · Apologies · Llyn's Tribulations · Confrontations · Getting Away From the Party · Grave Digger · Confronting the Shrew
Major Characters	Murikeer · Llyn · Dream Serpent · Rickkter