In Search of Home, by Michael Olson

Story name: In Search of Home
Author: Michael Olson
Publication date: March 25, 2002 (TSA-Talk)

Date: Winter 706 CR (2 days)
Location: Metamor Keep (Deaf Mule, the Watch headquarters)

Overview

Jacob Drazil searches for a job he can work as a lizard morph in Metamor.

+ Story info (Spoilers!)

Summary

Part 1

It is winter. Having recently moved to the Keep, Jacob needs to find a job as someone who can work at night, but not in the cold. He wakes up early in the night to ask the shopkeepers if they need an apprentice, but is turned down at every one. Dejected, he has dinner at the Deaf Mule, where only one table is by the fireplace, occupied by Nahum and Tallis, who are having a contest to see who can stay awake longest. Jacob talks about his job search, and Tallis suggests he try scribing; all he needs is a sample page of his writing.

Jacob returns to his room, and realizes that he hasn't practiced writing since the curse. His changed hands can barely form letters. It takes several minutes and intense concentration to be write a single four-letter word passably well. He starts over and works long into the night.

Once finished, he tries to find the Writer's Guild office, but keeps arriving at a door marked by the symbol of a white lantern. After the sixth time, he tries to enter it, but a coyote morph tackles him to the ground and warns that the Watch will arrest anyone who opens the door. Seeking an alternative exit, Jacob climbs up to a window, which lies 50 feet above the ground. He instead climbs over to the ramparts, but the cold air quickly saps his energy, and he falls asleep just as he pulls himself up, and a guard demands what he's doing.

Part 2

Jacob wakes up in a dimly lit cell, tied to a chair, as a woman accuses him of breaking into the Keep, and then of lying when he claims he was searching for the Writer's Guild. A young boy Martin approaches with various tools of torture, but realizes that Jacob's huge pupils can see in the dark and will spoil their interrogation. They are revealed to be members of the Watch, peacekeepers of the Keep. The Chief enters, unhappy with the unauthorized interrogation, and gets the true story from Jacob. She finds the writing sample from Jacob's cloak, and sends for Tallis to confirm his story.

Thus vindicated, Jacob is untied and allowed to wait with Martin and the squad's mage Benlin in the antechamber. After a brief conversation and wait, Tallis appears, and Jacob finally shows him the paper. Tallis asks for a more careful sample, not realizing it is Jacob's best effort. Jacob pretends to have hurt his hand, and thus unable to write in the near future. After Tallis leaves, the Chief begins to talk to Jacob, and suddenly hurls two vases at opposite ends of the wall. Jacob catches both with his hand and foot, landing awkwardly. The Chief explains that she was testing Jacob; based on his physical abilities, and his need for a job, she offers him a job at the Watch.

After a final short interview, Jacob leaves, finding himself outside the same door he'd been passing all morning. Deciding that work for the Watch might not be so bad for him, he heads to his room to write a letter to his family of his new home.

Characters

Main Characters:

• Jacob Drazil: A gecko morph, a recent arrival in Metamor.
  • He has green scales and four-fingered hands with adhesive finger tips. He is able to cry, but his translucent eyelids are able to hide them.
  • He wears black clothing, including breaches. He wears four layers of clothing, the outer two being cloaks, the outer one of which has pockets.
  • He gets two vases from the Watch from his test. Both feature different well-painted scenes of a fertile forest turning into a wasteland, which then regrows back to the original forest.
  • He has killed Lutins before. He has never killed a human.

Supporting Characters:

• Tallis: A rat morph, a headmaster for the Writer's Guild.
  • He is short, with black curly fur, and white fur on his stomach and chest.
• Martin: An uncursed boy, the night Watch's thief catcher. It was his idea to question Jacob, but he stops once he realizes Jacob can see in the dark. The Chief does not punish him for the role, but won't stop Sam from punishing him if she wishes.
  • He looks to be about 13 years old. His voice is a boyish tenor.
  • He has light brown hair. He wears a dark gray uniform.
  • Among the tools he carries are wooden blocks, a metal file, and a jar of unknown contents.
  • He was a child thief. He was captured by the Keep, but successfully offered to help the Watch catch other thieves.
    • • He plans to be "long gone" (from Metamor or the Watch) by the time he is cursed in about a year. This could be a naive attempt to escape the curse, or it could be a chance to escape with a new identity.
• Sam: A member of the night Watch. She tries interrogating Jacob, without authorization; for this, the Chief sentences her to double town patrol duty for the next three months.
  • On the left shoulder of her uniform is the Watch emblem.
• The Chief, a female gendermorph, head of the night Watch. She stops the interrogation and gets to the truth. She decides to hire Jacob to the Watch.
  • According to Benlin, she insists on being addressed as female, with dire consequences to those who don't.
  • One of her usual tests for new Watch members is throwing the vases by her desk. Not many try to catch both of them. She has a storehouse full of vases, and has no issue destroying or losing them.

Minor Characters:

• Nahum: A fox morph, Tallis's friend. He is having a no-sleep contest with Tallis.
  • He has brown eyes.
• A coyote morph, almost certainly Devon Erthshade the court jester, who tricks Jacob into thinking the door to the Watch is actually illegal to enter.
  • He has mottled brown fur and a strange outfit.
• Benlin Faraday: A child morph, a mage-in-training who assists the Keep's Watch. He gave magical aid to Martin and Sam's interrogation of Jacob.
  • He is 20 years old (born in 686 CR), but his child form looks to be ten.
  • Among the magic he is capable of performing, he can make voices sound deeper, and allow people to see in the dark.
  • He is mostly reading a large book, showing little interest in anything outside it.

Cameo:

• A child morph shopkeeper. He bluntly tells Jacob that most shopkeepers already have apprentices, and few will trust a stranger at night.
• A waitress at the Deaf Mule.

Referenced:

• The steward of Metamor Keep, who emphasized that his quarters were temporary until he found employment.
• Bethyl's village priest, who taught many villagers including Jacob how to read and write.

Locations

• Jacob's temporary quarters have a slightly long bed against the wall, with dull-colored sheets, a mahogany headboard, a single pillow, and an oak chest against the footboard, facing the hearth. A desk sits besides the head of the bed, a simple desk with two drawers and a slightly dented surface. There are no windows or decorations.
  • Jacob has few possessions, kept either in the desk or in the chest if too large for the desk.
    • In his desk are papers, ink, and a simple quill pen, mostly used for letters to Bethyl.
    • In the chest are some clothes. Underneath the clothes is a tinderbox and his leather-bound copy of The Canticles, the title in yellow thread.
• At the Deaf Mule, there is a large hearth at the opposite side of the room from the entrance.
• The entrance to the Keep's Watch Headquarters is a plain door marked by the white emblem of the Watch.
  • The chamber outside the holding cell resembles an office. The floor is stone, with a thin rug. On one side of the room, opposite the door out, is a large heavy dark wooden desk. Behind the desk, on each corner of the room, is a pedestal with a vase. From the desk, the holding cell is to the right. Along the wall opposite the desk, at least 10 feet away, are several padded chairs.
• The hallway outside the Watch door had a bench facing it. There are windows lining the hallway set twelve feet above the floor, with storm shutters large enough for the ledge.
  • The windows opened out fifty feet above the ground.

Society

• The curse tends to affect diet instead of sleep habits.
• The Writer's Guild offers entry-level jobs for scribing. Hours are flexible, requiring only a certain number of pages written per day. The pay is not great, but enough to live on. A writing sample is necessary to join.
  • Most of their assignments are making formal, sellable copies of works.
• The emblem of The Watch is the symbol of a shield, with a lantern in the center and a horse's head in the upper right. On a uniform, the lantern is large enough to touch the shield.

Chronology

• 4 nights before the first night, Nahum and Tallis began their contest to see who could stay awake longest. Loser has to buy the other a meal at the Deaf Mule.
• It is currently winter. Early in the evening of the first night, there is a light dusting of snow on the ground, with a light wind, and the night sky is clear. Later on, there is some light snowfall.
• The morning of the second day is windy.
• Jacob is asked to begin combat training on the third day.

Story Connections

• The story of Jacob's arrival was in The Bonds of Family.

Points of Interest

• Jacob describes the fireplace as a Mecca of heat. He also refers to a "Good Samaritan" who told him where to find Tallis.