Story name: Penance and Retribution
Author: Oren the Otter
Publication date:
- October 16, 1999 (chapters 1 - 2) (on Furry-Lit)
- November 12, 1999 (chapter 3) (on VFW-Times)
- November 17, 1999 (chapter 4) (on VFW-Times)
- December 4, 1999 (chapter 6) (on VFW-Times)
- December 11, 1999 (chapters 7-8) (on VFW-Times)
Date: Mid September - Late September or Early October, 706 CR
Location: Metamor Keep, Hipocc, Devil's Strand
Overview
To save his sister, and to fulfill his destiny, Oren leads an expedition to Hipocc, where Lutins join forces with Devil's Strand to unleash a spell of darkness upon the Keep.
Summary
Chapters 1-2
On a cold foggy autumn morning, as Oren is warming himself up, Caroline knocks on his door. She wants him and Gornul to see something that she and the other otters found by the river. There, he meets Light Carter, a healer and an otter, who is tending to a moaning sea otter morph. Oren recognizes the voice as Sawana. She tells him that she drank her entire jar of cursed lake water from Hipocc, so that she could be like him. Oren takes her to Coe's, but from him and Wessex, he learns that their cures against magic will be counteracted by Ana's antimagic nature. Unless her antimagic defenses are boosted, she will die within 2 weeks.
Oren can save her temporarily with Rupert's pouch of antimagic, but he knows it won't be enough. Phil hears him from the next room, and calls him in to join his meeting with Thomas and Vitra over Nasoj's battle plans. Vitra says she knows Nasoj has been gathering darklings for a planned invasion, and recently allied himself with Devil's Strand. With Hipocc now destroyed, nothing will stop the Strand from conquering the world with Nasoj's help. Their plan is to cast a spell that will turn all stone and metal in the Keep to powder, and destroy the Keeper's will to fight. The one requirement is for the spell to be cast in total darkness, and its target to be in total darkness. As the most qualified Hipocci soldier, Phil and Thomas want Oren to lead an expedition to Devil's Strand and stop them from casting the spell, while the Keepers prepare for the darkling invasion.
This is convenient for Oren, as he was planning to return to Hipocc to get anti-magic for Sawana. He also wants Phil to join him, because he is a prominent military leader who can rally the people, and it will keep him safe from the invasion. Oren also has another reason: a Hipoccian prophecy, the Song of the Childlike Warrior, specifically says that Phil must join him. He explains the prophecy to the Duke, and how it has matched recent events. When he finishes, he starts crying; he has been dreading the thought of returning home, but says that Felice won't do it, and Blake Tizzo shouldn't do it. Only he can do it. He makes it out of Phil's room before he breaks down crying.
After giving Ana the antimagic, Oren is able to convince Charles to join him on the 2-week expedition. Jesse Roo turns out not to need convincing; he is already packed and ready to go. Desuka also comes, by command of his emperor; he and the Os-Var-Khai ambassadors each have a magic device to communicate with each other between Hipocc, Metamor, and Os-Var-Khai. Sawana, unfortunately, is too ill to travel. The next day, Oren inspects the wagons; Jesse and Charles are in the back, Rupert and Phil and Desuka are in the middle, and up front, to his alarm, is Felice. Felice tells him to relax; this is why she came to the Keep in the first place. A fourth wagon rolls up, a mobile hospital with Light Carver, Shamgar, and Blake; Oren objects to Blake, but Light trusts her, and says Blake knows how to heal Hipocci civilians. Satisfied with inspections, Oren leads the wagons out.
Chapter 3
One night during the journey, during dinner, Desuka sets up a transmission from Emperor Ku to Oren, with news that Ana has stabilized and doing well. He dismisses Oren to talk to Desuka about the invasion of Aqualo in Os-Var-Khai. Oren eavesdrops, but Barnaeus confuses Oren for Light Carter and interrupts him for medicine. Later on the road, the caravan crosses paths with Samantha and Saulius, who have been chasing a Lutin squadron for a week, shortly before they left. Sensing that the Lutins are headed to Devil's Strand, Oren invites them along.
Thomas has prepared jars of chemicals to defeat the darkmen and set up more guards and torches throughout the Keep. During the night, there is an odd silence; Thomas senses evil nearby. Suddenly, creatures of darkness erupt from the earth. The fighting is intense, and many lives are lost, but the dark creatures are repelled and sent into the catacombs beneath the Keep the following day. Misha sends his Long Scouts after them.
Kayrok is the leader of the Lutin squadron heading to Devil's Strand. He and the rest of his squad are outcasts for being intellectuals or having unusual abilities, and Kayrok suspects this assignment was a deliberate attempt to eliminate them. He is determined to make the best use of his Lutins. Early before dawn, he asks his assistant Sujan if he can turn into a flying animal, but Sujan recommends Sytet, who has were-bat blood. Kayrok praises him for his humility.
When Oren's caravan reaches the lake of Hipocc in the late morning, Rupert points out a bat flying overhead. Jesse knocks out its wing with a magic missile. A large beast crosses their path, and everyone prepares to fire, except Oren who tries to tame it, and Felice who recognizes her as Sandy, a young girl whom the Stranders turned into a thirdak. Felice reminds Sandy that wandering off was how she turned into a thirdak in the first place. Oren asks Sandy to lead them to the refugee camp. From the hills, the refugees ogle the strange caravan, and an elder recognizes that these are the figures from the prophecy — though a lot larger than he was expecting.
In the Keep basements, Danielle follows a trail through the darkness. She hears a hollow, oddly compelling voice telling her to come closer. She drops the torch and steps forward; though she quickly snaps out of it, the dark shell grabs her with its tendrils and takes over her body. A fresh-faced Long Scout named Binge goes in search of her, and finds her coated in a black shell. He tries to flee, but runs into an invisible wall, one of Danielle's powers controlled by the dark shell. Binge is helpless as a darkfire creeps up through the floor and attacks.
Sytet's hand is tattered, and though Lutins generally avoid healers, Kayrok insists Sytet is too valuable to lose. Sytet says he recognized Prince Phil and several other figures of the childlike warrior prophecy. The next morning, Kayrok tells Devil's Strand mage Mist Ocean that Oren's caravan has arrived. Mist Ocean pulls back a curtain to reveal a man nailed to a cross and mocks him (to which he calmly asserts his faith). She reveals the man's identity: it is Nerr, Oren's father. Kayrok returns to his men and asks Redfoot how they can leak this info to the Keepers without them suspecting a trap. Redfoot comes up with the same plan that he had: send Sytet. He will give them the info under mild duress, and he can be easily rescued later.
As the Hipocci recount the battle, one of the thirdaks has to be pulled away from Charles, who lies that he was carrying something magical. While going over a written version of the prophecy with one of the Hipocci, Oren comments to himself that it reads "sondeck flame" instead of "sand and flame". Charles is the only one who gets the connection, but Oren quickly realizes his mistake, as he stares at the shocked and angry Charles.
Chapters 4-6
Charles confronts Oren for spying on him and prying into his secrets; Oren justifies himself by saying he meant no harm and never revealed them. Charles retorts that Oren has a long record of showing no regard for others, like the time he insulted Gornul. Oren is angry that a fellow Follower would keep a list of his wrongs. After a tense moment, Charles tells them they need to focus on their mission, not fighting.
Misha and the Longs find Binge badly-burned and babbling that the dark shells took Danielle. As he sends Binge to a healer, a darkfire emerges from the wall, but Misha destroys it with some of Ye's chemicals, and orders that every corridor be lit with anything that will burn. Misha tricks the dark monsters by keeping half a dozen Longs hidden with covered lanterns until the darkmen are exposed, but the darkmen only retreat further into the darkness.
As the Hipocci strategize, Rupert calmly captures the Lutin werebat spying on them. Sytet declares in broken Common that he won't talk, and Oren and Jesse talk aloud to the other Hipocci about what they can conclude from Sytet. Annoyed at being ignored, Sytet ends up giving away that he is smarter than the usual Lutin and playing dumb. Oren puts a spear to his throat and demands the truth. Sytet says in plain Common that he was to be deliberately captured to tell Oren that Mist Ocean has his father alive, and will kill him if he doesn't surrender. Oren agrees and sets Sytet loose to tell his master. Oren then tells the camp that they will not surrender; they will free his father, then destroy the Strand.
Oren's plan will be to split into 4 groups. Gornul will stay in the camp and trick Sytet's commander as long as he can into thinking they have not moved. Rupert and Desuka will each lead a group on Devil's Strand; Rupert will lead Felice and the strongest of their army to the north as a diversion, while Desuka will lead the hospital and their backup and stop a quarter of a mile from the Strand. Oren will lead Jesse and Charles to the Strand's town square to disrupt the spell. Phil will stay with Desuka; despite Phil's objections, it is important to keep him safe at all costs. Phil insists the prophecy needs him; Oren lies that he doesn't base his decisions in prophecy.
Oren and Charles snap at each other on the way to the Strand, both nervous about the plan. In Rupert's troops, Samantha leads them all in a rousing fight song. They find the Strand surrounded by a magical barrier, though it is no barrier to the Hipocci and Keepers, to the Strand's great surprise.
Less than an hour after they left, Kayrok and his scout Norebo discover that the seemingly active Hipocci camp is an illusion. He calls on Hornbeam to find and destroy its source; Gornul quickly leaves and rejoins Oren. With the illusion gone, Kayrok realizes they want them to attack the much stronger northern company, so instead he decides to target the southern caravans and take their supplies. Just then, Redfoot reports that Dimtorch was found drinking from the lake, and is changing into a monster. Kayrok decides on a special mission for Dimtorch.
When Gornul replays the scene, Oren immediately realizes that the Lutins are going after the bigger target, Phil's caravan. He is about to head back when Phil emerges from the bushes; he tricked Desuka into watching a Hipocci's pet rabbit. He knows he is needed for the prophecy; he's been studying the Strander's spell, and learned how to cast its weakness, fire.
Oren chuckles when he realizes that he hasn't been very child-like for the prophecy. He shouts to the heavens that he belongs to Yeshua and will not be corrupted. He turns and apologizes to his friends for his behavior, and explains to them all why they are part of the prophecy. When he finishes, he suddenly gets a very child-like idea.
Chapters 7-8
Rupert's army storms the citadel in search of Nerr. They find the vision room empty, except for the infant; an image in the scrying pool shows Nerr being hauled to the town square.
Meanwhile, as Oren begins drawing cancellation runes in the town square to protect them, thick clouds overhead cover up the stars. Gornul psionically displays the next rune, directing all incoming energy inwards. Jesse adds his explosive missiles, Charles adds streams of physical force, and Phil adds a fire spell. In the middle of their casting, an army of Stranders arrive, carrying a nearly dead Nerr. Oren is ready to fight them single-handedly, but Rupert's army arrives to back him up. As they start fighting, the monstrous Dimtorch joins the fight as well.
Desuka had the foresight to circle the wagons in case of attack, thus protecting the Keepers and Hipocci inside from the Lutin attack. Though the Keepers and Hipocci fight fiercely, the Lutins quickly pull back their injured from the front lines before they can be killed. Neither side loses anyone, or gains an advantage.
Mist Ocean has taken advantage of the chaos on all fronts and moved to the ruins of Hipocci, where its devastation serves as the sacrifice she needs. It is pitch black. Her demons tell her that Metamor is nearly covered in darkness, and it will soon be time to cast.
Sandfur is in a losing battle with the dark creatures, with only Qualin to give him light. He catches a glimpse of the tower Oren built, and suddenly he gets an idea. He runs to the top of the tower and finds a machine. Whether by fate, or by serendipity, the tower and the machine and the dragonettes are all here for this moment. Sandfur orders the dragonettes to light the fire and start the machine, which creates a concentrated light beam strong enough to kill even a darkfire. Light floods the Keep, killing the dark shells below.
Meanwhile, the three spells in Oren's circle feed and strengthen each other, growing outside the circle. Oren and his friends run away as the fire engulfs the Stranders and Dimtorch. Mist Ocean is briefly confused by the sun rising before she too is consumed. Oren arrives at Desuka's company and orders them to move. Kayrok calls for a truce and helps them flee. Once they are outside the valley, the fireball finally dissipates. Oren suddenly realizes he forgot to get antimagic for Ana, but Blake had told the Hipocci earlier to fill their pockets, and hands a vial to Oren. Nerr is safe, thanks to the Lutins. Kayrok calls Oren an honorable enemy, and the two leaders part ways on good terms.
As Nerr is recovering, an old woman who claims to be a healer joins the caravan. She secretly gives Oren a potion that she claims can temporarily undo the curse of Metamor. The woman is actually one of Kayrok's spies, a master of disguise, and the potion is actually one half of a seemings exchange; if two people splash themselves at once with it and water, their appearance is swapped. Meanwhile, in Os-Var-Khai, Ku sends the images of Devil's Strand's destruction to Aqualo, to show his superiors that evil will not win, and joins the celebration in the temple.
Oren returns to the Keep to find that Sawana passed away just the night before. He sequesters himself in his home, seeing no one but Vitra. The Hipocci refugees stay in Oren's tower temporarily; Jesse oversees their housing and military training, to serve as militia. Over time, the Hipocci receive the curse of Metamor, often a mix of different animals. Nerr becomes a dolphin; Felice becomes a winged cat-like beast.
A few days before Christmas, Oren emerges and asks Father Hough to marry him and Vitra.
Abbreviated Synopsis
- Sawana drinks her jar of Hipocci lake water and begins turning into a sea otter. Rupert's antimagic stabilizes her but does not cure her. Oren goes to Hipocc to get antimagic, but Sawana dies 2 weeks later, a day before Oren returns.
- The Song of the Childlike Warrior is fulfilled when Oren goes to Hipocc, casts a fireball spell to stop an evil spell of Devil's Strand, and saves Metamor. He primarily does this with Phil, Charles, Jesse, and Gornul. Also accompanying him are Rupert, Felice, Saulius, Desuka, and many of Oren's friends.
- Devil's Strand and the entire valley are destroyed by the fireball. The Hipocci refugees, including Oren's father, return with Oren to Metamor Keep and become cursed. The inhabitants of Devil's Strand are all killed by the fireball.
- Kayrok leads a band of outcast Lutins for Devil's Strand. His only casualty is a dimwitted Lutin named Dimtorch. Oren does not pursue him, but Kayrok does manage to trick Oren into buying an anti-magic potion that actually swap two people's appearances.
- Metamor Keep is attacked by dark creatures, and many people lose their lives by freezing or burning. The fighting moves underground, but the creatures aren't defeated until Sandfur uses Oren's lighthouse on them.
- After learning of Sawana's death, Oren stays in his house, visited only by Vitra. In Christmas, he emerges and asks Hough to marry him and Vitra.
Characters
Main characters:
- Oren: A thrice-cursed otter morph from Hipocc, the "Childlike Warrior" from a Hipocci nursery rhyme. He leads a caravan to Hipocc, and plans out the Battle of Devil's Strand to destroy their spell of darkness. Despite the prophecy, he initially assigns Phil to Desuka's caravan to keep him safe. When Phil returns, he realizes he is acting too much like a warchief than a child-like warrior, and he embraces his inner mischief — hiding his team in the Strand's fertility sculpture. He draws a series of cancellation runes in a circle to block magic from entering.
- He has all three of the curses on him, which comes out in his sleep, when he sleeps as a 6-year-old girl otter. His preferred form is as an otter morph; the curses have made this form smaller, weaker, and more feminine. He is still able to shift to it thanks to his Hipoccian anti-magic nature. He is also able to suppress the animal noises he previously made.
- He tends to wear a vest and briefs (no pants), and a cape.
- After the battle, Blake gives him a pouch of antimagic from the Hipocci reserves, and a mysterious healer woman (Norebo in disguise) secretly gives him a potion to temporarily break any curse, which activates after splashing it on him with water (actually a seemings exchange potion, which exchanges the physical appearance of two people who use it simultaneously; Kayrok has another such potion).
- Charles: A rat morph, secretly a Sondecki. Oren asks him to come along for Ana's sake, and for the safety of the Keep. Charles is reluctant as he has duties, but agrees. While there, he is shocked when Oren reveals to him that he knows of his Sondeckis. Charles calls him out for his past hypocrisies. They set aside this dispute to cast the spell to counter the darkness spell.
- When Desuka talks to Ku, Charles is writing nearby. Is he keeping a record of the journey? Spying on Desuka? Writing a message to the Keep?
- Jesse and Gornul learn of Charles's Sondecki, not by name, but only as a powerful magic.
- While in Hipocc, he says that he plans to propose to Kimberly next week — ergo, immediately after the week-long return to Metamor.
- Phil: A rabbit morph, crown prince of Whales, chief steward of Lorland, Fleet Admiral of Whales and Master of Fire, and head of Metamor Keep intelligence. Due to his prestige and leadership ability, as well as due to prophecy, Oren asks Phil to join him. Phil is reluctant to leave his people, but soon embraces his role in the prophecy, going so far as to run away from safety in Desuka's caravan to join Oren in Devil's Strand. He casts a fire spell in Oren's circle, to defeat the Strand's spell.
- Kayrok: A lutin, captain of the Lutins sent to assist Devil's Strand. He serves Nasoj, but unlike other Lutins, he is humble and believes in teamwork and strategy. His superiors gave him the assignment, and their own Lutin outcasts, hoping they'd fail and be done with. He is followed from Metamor by Saulius and Samantha, who join Oren's caravan. After finding the Hipocci camp empty, he decides that instead of defending Devil's Strand from Oren's strongest detachment, he will attack Oren's most vulnerable. He ends up taking no losses from the battle, losing only Dimtorch on his assignment. He then tricks Oren, giving him an anti-curse potion that is actually a seemings exchange potion.
- He lets other Lutins believe they are coming up with ideas that he already has.
Supporting characters:
- Felice: Oren's sister. Oren doesn't think she wants to return to Hipocc, but she sits in the front caravan. She follows Rupert into battle, afraid and tense, and finds revenge very satisfying. She rescues the Hipocci baby from Mist Ocean's tent. She is the second after Nerr to change, due to her already extended time at Metamor, and becomes a winged lion-like morph.
- She lives with the Hipocci refugees at Metamor Valley.
- Jesse Roo: A kangaroo morph from Lorland, gifted with his family's innate power of magic missiles. He has been searching for prophecies concerning him and his power, and was already ready to pack for Oren's trip to Hipocc when Oren arrived.
- After studying at Lorland's library, he is one of the few Lorland farmers who can read.
- Gornul: A blue dragonette, described by Oren as a "psionic". He can produce illusions.
- He also has secret knowledge from around the Keep.
- Misha: A fox morph, head of the Long Scouts. He leads the Long Scouts into the Keep catacombs to defeat the darkmen. He also built the machine that destroys the darkmen, without knowing its purpose.
- Sawana: Oren's friend from Hipocc. She had a jar of cursed lake water, the same that changed Oren. She drinks the whole jar to be like him, but the sheer amount fights against her antimagic body. She is temporarily saved by Rupert's antimagic and the Keep's magic, but she dies a mere day before Oren's return.
- As a sea otter morph, she is described as portly yet very shapely.
- The symptoms of her drinking anti-magic are given by Wessex as follows: in a week, she will be an otter in body and mind. In 2 weeks, she will lose her human mind. After that, the magic will keep twisting her until she dies.
Minor characters:
Metamor Keep
- Danielle: A pine marten morph, a Long Scout. While searching the catacombs for darklings, she is taken over by a dark shell, and forced to watch as her body attacks fellow Long Scout Binge. She is only freed when the dark spell is lifted.
- She has the magic power to create force barriers, though she normally only uses it for body armor, rather for offense.
- She was born in Pan Mir, far to the east, and has fond memories of it.
- Thomas: A horse morph, the Duke of Metamor Keep.
- Vitra: A zorilla morph, a Lutin, Oren's lover. She learned of Nasoj's battle plans from her former husband Ushka. She gives this info to Phil, Thomas, and Oren in a meeting.
- She was present at Sawana's deathbed, with Achin.
- Binge: A child morph, a Long Scout, possibly in-training.
- Before coming to Metamor, he had been a fat man who had never done any fighting. As a child morph at a default age of 10, he has a high metabolism that took away his weight. He also has a surprising talent for combat.
- Sandfur: A boyish raccoon morph, a Long Scout. He gets the idea to use Oren's lighthouse to defeat the black fires at Metamor.
- He might also be a child morph as well.
- Qualin: A dragonette, Gornul's older brother. He wants to join Oren's expedition, but Gornul asks him to stay at Metamor and protect their family. He helps Sandfur fight the dark creatures and activate the lighthouse.
- Coe: A raccoon morph, the Keep physician. He does his best to heal Sawana, but he has to deliver the sad news that Sawana passed away.
- Wessex: A child morph, a wizard at the Keep who specializes in foreign magic.
- Caroline: An otter morph, a Long Scout. She was recently assaulted by Lutins, and has bandaged hands.
- Kim Roo: A female gendermorph, Jesse Roo's mother, a farmer in Lorland.
- She offers Oren some cayenne tea to warm him from the cold.
Oren's caravan
- Rupert: A gorilla morph, a former Whales marine and Phil's bodyguard.
- Light Carter: A Eurasian otter morph, an herbal healer. She joined the otter circle while Oren was imprisoned. She is among those who finds Sawana, and leads a mobile hospital with Oren's expedition.
- She has a similar accent to Oren's. Oren finds her rather attractive.
- Wasoko Desuka: A red panda morph, an ambassador from Os-Var-Khai. He has a communication link to Emperor Ku, and joins Oren's expedition so that Emperor Ku can coordinate.
- Blake Tizzo: A female gendermorph, a former assassin from Devil's Strand. Oren doesn't trust her (especially as he was her target), but Light Carter insists she join to know what spells the Stranders use and how to heal Hipocci refugees. Unknown to either of them, Mist Ocean has a double-vision spell on her to spy on Metamor. She fights Lutins with Desuka
- Samantha: A female gendermorph, a knight of Metamor. She and Saulius were pursuing Kayrok's army, who had snuck past the Keep and headed south. She joins
- Saulius: A rat morph, a knight of Metamor.
- Kaj: A child morph, a guard in Oren's caravan. He dismisses Saulius and Samantha as cowards who abandoned their duty after the Curse.
- To Kaj's ripostes, Oren defends Samantha and Saulius, that they lost everything in the Curse, and whereas Kaj can maintain his dignity as a boyish young man, Samantha and Saulius had the courage to re-earn their respect.
- Kilix: A child morph, a guard in Oren's caravan.
Kayrok's army
- Sytet: A lutin from the Bloodborne tribe. He has were-bat blood, and is able to voluntarily shift into a bat.
- He has green lips as a bat, giving him away to an observant Hipocci.
- Sujan: A lutin. He studies the magic of their enemies, and acts as an advisor to Kayrok.
- He is very small for a Lutin.
- Redfoot: A lutin, Kayrok's subcommander.
- Like other members of the Carnak tribe, he decorates himself with his enemies' disembodied parts. He wears a weapon on the back of his neck made from two arm bones tied with dried intestine.
- Norebo: A lutin from the Ironfoot tribe, a master of disguise, Kayrok's scout.
- He is scrawny.
- Dimtorch: A lutin, a very dumb Lutin. He drinks the Hipocci water, and turns into a mish-mash of animals. Kayrok sends him to disrupt Oren's spell. He fails to hurt them, and is instead killed by Oren's fire spell.
- His appearance continually changes, with more and more monster parts painfully tearing his body apart. The first effects change him to a blue polar bear with a dolphin tail and fin-like ears. He gets an otter-like body by the time he attacks Oren. He gets bigger and stronger during his fight, growing shark-like skin and gryphon claws. A rib bursts through his skin and his elbow. He howls in pain as Oren's fireball consumes him.
- Hornbeam: A wispy-looking lutin. He can use his nose to track down psionic beings (those who can project mental illusions).
Hippoci and Stranders
- Nerr: Oren's and Felice's father, a Hipocci, a Follower. In mockery of his faith, Mist Ocean strips and nails him to a cross, with thorns on his head. He is ostensibly the sacrifice for her spell on Metamor, but during the attack on Devil's Strand, he is taken instead to the town square to distract Oren. After the battle, he moves to Metamor Valley with the other Hipocci refugees. Because of his physical weakness, he is the first of them to change, becoming a dolphin morph and curing his injuries.
- Mist Ocean: A mage for Devil's Strand, in charge of the darkness spell over Metamor and Devil's Strand.
- She cast a double-vision spell on Blake Tizzo without Blake's knowledge, allowing Mist to spy on Metamor.
- Naomi: A Hipocci. She is watching the valley when the caravan approaches. She later joins Rupert's assault on Devil's Strand.
- Leo: An older Hipocci boy. He holds down Sytet's wings. He is one of six Hipocci to join Rupert's mission.
- He knows more about Lutins than Xan does, not only identifying Sytet's tribe but also aware of their manner of speech, and identifies Sytet's speech as irregular.
- Sandy: A Hipocci girl transformed into a thirdak by Devil's Strand. Felice knows her. Sandy leads Oren's caravan to the Hipocci refugee camp.
- Felice says that the Stranders planned to cut her up for one of their spells.
- Sandy lives with her mom in the refugee camp.
- Xan: An older Hipocci boy. He helps Leo hold down Sytet's wings. He is one of six Hipocci to join Rupert's assault.
- He picks up on Sytet's physical details before Leo does, observing his green lips and broken wings that indicate he came on a mission.
- A Hippocian infant boy, used by Mist Ocean to power her spells. He is thin, and prior to his rescue was expected to survive a few more seasons.
- Faith: A Hipocci. She watches the caravan approaching.
- Keet: The baker of Hipocc. He is glad to see Oren return to Hipocc, reminding Faith and Naomi of the prophecy.
- He has an eyepatch and a useless arm.
- Teacher: A Hipocci woman. She has been studying an ancient copy of the rhyme of the Childlike Warrior for clues on how to defeat the Strand.
- Jemma: A Hipocci girl. She lays out a map of Devil's Strand to help Oren's caravan plan their disruption of the spell.
- Forest: A Strander guard. He is patrolling the town square when he sees Oren's group. He tries to run, but he dies by Jesse's magic missile.
Other
- Emperor Ku: The ruler of Os-Var-Khai. Like many of Os-Var-Khai's ruling class, he takes the form of an animal, in his case a color-changing fox morph. He watches the destruction of Devil's Strand, and saves the images for the ruler of Qor to see.
- He wears golden robes.
- He has a teleportation spell to send objects directly to Aqualo.
Cameo:
Metamor Keep
- Ye: A child morph in the form of a lizard morph. He stays at the Duke's side throughout the crisis.
- Kimberly: A rat morph, Charles's beloved.
- Barney: An otter morph, a fishkeeper from Lorland, who is friends with Oren and the otters. He is among those who finds Sawana.
- He is smaller than Rashim and Sawana.
- Rashim: A cape clawless otter morph, one of Oren's friends. He is among those who finds Sawana.
- He is much larger than Barney and Sawana.
- Thalberg: An alligator morph, the Keep steward.
- Og: An African giant rat morph, a knight from the east. A dark shell takes over him and attacks Sandfur.
- A large dragon who is taken over by a dark shell.
- Hough: A child morph, the Keep's Ecclesian priest.
Oren's caravan
- Shamgar: A rhinoceros morph, Blake Tizzo's boyfriend. He drives Light Carter's wagon, and joins Desuka's company.
- Barnaeus: A squid morph, an aged guard in Oren's caravan. He confuses Oren for Light and asks for a headache. He joins Rupert's assault on Devil's Strand.
- Jonathan: A female gendermorph who joins Rupert's assault on Devil's Strand. She is armed with a sword.
- Daniel: A female gendermorph who joins Rupert's assault on Devil's Strand.
- Andrew: A stegosaurus morph, who joins Rupert's assault on Devil's Strand.
Kayrok's army
Hippoci and Stranders
- Beetle: An old Hipocci man. During the attack on Hipocc, an ogre broke his leg, which is now in a cast.
- Sambrea: A healthy young Hipocci woman who joins Rupert's assault on Devil's Strand.
- Dekay: An old but muscular Hipocci man. He joins Rupert's assault on Devil's Strand and watches over Sandy.
- A Strander guard whom Felice and Rupert order to direct them to the vision room. He lives, only to be killed by Kaj.
Important mention:
- Arik: A young man from Os-Var-Khai, in the form of a beaver morph. He and Chinso are still searching for allies against Aqualo.
- Chinso: An Eastern dragon from Os-Var-Khai. He and Arik are still searching for allies against Aqualo.
- Bari: The tailor of Hipocc. He betrayed Hipocc by canceling out their barriers.
Referenced:
- Loriod: A corrupt lord of Metamor, now deceased. His collection of books has become a public library.
- Achin: A dog morph. He nearly died after exposure to anti-magic. He was also present at Sawana's deathbed, with Vitra.
- Ushka: A deceased lutin, Vitra's former husband. He was a fire mage impressed into service by Nasoj. He told Vitra useful information about Nasoj's plans.
- Nasoj: The evil wizard who opposes Metamor Keep and will do anything to defeat them.
- Mong Ho: A female gendermorph in a rooster form, an ambassador from Os-Var-Khai. She stays by Sawana at the Keep to give Oren updates.
- Aqualo: A warlord from Qor, currently leading the attack on Khumar.
- An avian morph and his wife in Metamor Keep. The wife survived the darkling attack. The avian morph did not.
- Sandy's mom, who still lives among the Hipocci refugees.
- Rickkter: A raccoon morph who has many secrets. Oren knows a few.
- Clover: A rabbit morph, Phil's betrothed.
- Natalie: A tiny dragon morph, Gornul's beloved.
- Zuzu: A Hipocci who owns a pet hare named Nibbles.
- Bradfox: A gendermorph, a guard of Metamor. S'he took a machine that Misha built and, not knowing what it was, moved it to the top of Oren's tower.
- The ruler of Qor, to whom Emperor Ku sends a viewing crystal with images of Devil's Strand's destruction.
- Yeshua: The son of Eli, the central figure of the Ecclesia.
The Song of the Childlike Warrior
- The meaning of the song, first told in A Little Ditty, is now mostly explained:
- The first 4 lines describe Oren, how he lost his parents and how he was transformed.
- The next 4 lines describe his journey to Metamor Keep, and his finding of two rodents with secrets, Charles and Phil. (Oren does not share with the Duke how he found out.)
- The next 2 lines are an instruction for Oren to tell them the prophecy.
- The next 4 lines are not explained by Oren, but he guesses they involve his journey to Devil's Strand. The lines "sand and flame" will end up being a transcription error of "sondeck flame", a necessary ingredient of Oren's counterspell.
- The next 4 lines say that Jesse Roo and Gornul must join him in Devil's Strand.
- The next 4 lines describe Nasoj's alliance with Devil's Strand, and their combined spell.
- The final 4 lines refer to Oren's return to Metamor and having "your fluff", which Oren jokes describes Phil's tail.
The Battle of Devil's Strand
Oren's companies
- Rupert and Felice's group consists of:
- the Keeper guards Kaj, Kilix, Jonathan, Daniel, Barnaeus, and Andrew;
- the Hipocci Leo, Xan, Sambrea, Naomi, Dekay, and Sandy;
- the Keeper knights Saulius and Samantha.
- Among Desuka's company are Blake, Shamgar, and Light. Blake and Shamgar fought directly against the Lutins, while Light quickly tended to the wounded and prevented any deaths. The rest of the Hipocci camp, including Naomi, Faith, Keet, Teacher, Jemma, Forest, and Beetle, may or may not have participated in the fighting.
- Rupert, with Felice as a guide, is ordered to storm the north side of Devil's Strand and target Mist Ocean's citadel. He is to make a lot of noise and divert the Strand's attention to them. Their secondary objective is to find Nerr's father, though Oren doubts he will be alive.
- Desuka is ordered to take the rest of the Hipocci to head south, go around the lake, and take position a quarter mile east of the Strand. They will provide reserves, food and medicine after the battle.
- Oren's group plans to head into Devil's Strand from the west, straight to the town square. Gornul will stay at the Hipocci camp to distract the Lutins, and is asked to join them after he is discovered, and to let the Lutins follow him.
Strand's companies
- Mist Ocean led the spell creation in the ruins of Hipocc, but purposefully disguised her plan as a sacrifice of Nerr to avoid detection. She had several demons in her employ, who only revealed themselves in Hipocc.
- Kayrok led a Lutin army as part of this distraction. Among his followers were Redfoot his subcommander, Sujan his magic expert, Norebo the spy, Sytet the werebat, Hornbeam the psionic tracker, Tripe and Foxtooth the healers, and Dimtorch.
- A Hipocci attack on the Strand was unprecedented, so the guards of the Strand were terribly disorganized and unsure how to react to Rupert's assault.
Locations
- Jesse Roo's room is separated from the rest of the house by a partition.
- Oren's tower serves as a home to the dragonettes, a lighthouse, and a temporary refuge for the Hipocci refugees.
- At the top floor of the tower is where the dragonettes live. A giant machine sits in the center, with a circular fire pit underneath. The machine takes light from the fire and turns it into a focused beam; the heat from the fire causes the machine to turn and sweep the beam around.
- To the north of Hipocc is a mountain pass. The road to Hipocc passes the cursed lake. The lake also sits between Hipocc and Devil's Strand. Hipocc's refugee camp is west of Hipocc, nestled in a series of hills. The lake, the camp, the ruins of Hipocc, and the entire valley (including Devil's Strand) are destroyed by Oren's fire ball.
- There seems to be another pass to the east of Devil's Strand from the valley. This is how Oren and his team escape.
- Devil's Strand was Hipocc's only neighbor. Hipocc had prevented Devil's Strand from expanding into any other neighbors. The town of Devil's Strand, along with the rest of the valley, are destroyed by Oren's fire ball.
- The town square had a set of fertility statues, featuring over a dozen painted nude animal sculptures engaged in explicit sexual activities. Among them were a tiger, a fox, a wolf, and a deer.
- The citadel of Devil's Strand was somewhere on the north side of Devil's Strand, apparently in the direction of the pass.
- Mist Ocean's meditation chamber lay in the last door in a hall heading inwards. It had a serenity spell active which stupefied anyone who wasn't mentally prepared for it. It filled the chamber with soft music, incense, and a view of the night sky above. In the middle was an infant, on whose life energy her spells were cast. A silence spell lay over it to silence its crying.
- In the next room was her vision chamber. In the center was a scrying pool to watch Blake's movements.
- Pan Mir is a city far to the east. It is the birthplace of Danielle.
- The entire eastern half of Khumar is now being ruled by Aqualo.
Chronology / Story Connections
- Oren refers back to the pouch of antimagic from Keeping the Lamp Lit.
- The fact that Oren was building a tower for no apparent reason has been a recurring theme throughout Oren's stories: see A Little Diddy, In the Tower, and Friendship And Other Things. The dragonettes move into the tower in Oren's Trial, and are seen living there in Natalie. No mention had been made of Misha building a machine or Bradfox moving it to the tower.
- The fight Oren had with Gornul happened in Decisions, and happened months ago.
- The near-fatality of Achin was described in Friendship and Other Things.
- The fall of Hipocc is described again from Visits from Home, with a few new details:
- The warriors were surprised and in disarray at first; by the time they were rallied, the Stranders occupied the strategic positions. The watchmen and the entire council of elders had been killed.
- The warriors died soon after. The Stranders had ogres and lutins at their side.
- The weapons to attack darkmen all re-appear from One of Each.
- At the beginning of the story, Oren has recently gotten out of the dungeons; Caroline's hands are still bandaged. This places it in early-to-mid September.
- The following is a rough timeline for the story:
- Day 1, Oren discovers Sawana and begins recruiting members for an expedition to Hipocc;
- Day 2, Oren's company leaves Metamor;
- Day 8, Oren recruits Saulius and Samantha from the road. On the night of day 8, the darklings attack Metamor Keep.
- Day 9, Oren's company meets Sandy, who leads them to the refugee camp, where they begin planning an assault. That night, they attack Devil's Strand and destroy it and the spell. In Metamor, the darklings retreat to the catacombs, and the Long Scouts set off to find them. They are almost overwhelmed, until Sandfur turns on the lighthouse and destroys them.
- Night of day 15, Sawana passes away, with Vitra and Achin at her bedside.
- Day 16, Oren's company returns to Metamor. He sequesters himself in his home at failing to make it in time.
- Several days later, the Hipocci refugees begin changing and building a new home in Metamor.
- A few days before Christmas, Oren emerges for the first time, and asks Hough to marry him and Vitra.
Society
- There is at least one other prophecy about Oren, besides the Song of the Childlike Warrior: "The Otter and the Weasel", likely concerning Vitra as well. Jesse found it in Loriod's library.
- The creatures who attack Metamor Keep are darkmen, night hounds, parasitic dark shells, and darkfires.
- The darkmen have a touch that freezes.
- The darkfires create a fire that gives no light. It has claws for hands.
- Dark shells can take over a person's body and use their own magic abilities.
- Thirdaks are large reptiles with only front legs. They have sharp teeth and forked tongues. They are the most common pet in Hipocc, due to being able to smell and eat magic, making natural bodyguards against Stranders.
- The Carnak tribe members decorate themselves with their enemies' disembodied parts.
- The Bloodborne tribe is known for having were-creature blood and capable of shapeshifting magic.
- The Emperor of Os-Var-Khai has "magic viewing crystals" with which he can save the images from sight spells.
Points of Interest
- Is Hipocc the only neighbor of Devil's Strand? Is there unclaimed territory that borders Hipocc? If Hipocc's only neighbor is Devil's Strand, then how were Oren, Sawana, and Felice able to leave Hipocc without passing through Devil's Strand? Is the mountain pass considered neutral territory, or is the pass considered an effective barrier with the outside?
- Note that, prior to Oren's Trial, Achin hated Vitra. Staying at Sawana's deathbed with her is perhaps a sign of friendship.
- How did the lighthouse beam make its way into the Keep catacombs? Perhaps someone had mirrors placed throughout the darkness, or perhaps Kyia had a hand in it?
- How did Oren and his wagon team outrun a fireball that managed to explode fast enough to surprise Mist Ocean miles away? Perhaps it exploded asymmetrically, or at an angle?
- Why was a lone guard patrolling the Strand's town square while the citadel was being attacked? Was this a deliberate assignment to misdirect Oren's attention, or a lack of oversight?
Behind the Scenes
- Even in the original submissions, there is no chapter 5, although chapter 3 is exceptionally long.
- For many years, only chapters 1 and 2 were available on the MK archives. All seven chapters were eventually posted sometime in late 2018.
