Support Group, by Charles Matthias

Story name: Support Group
Author: Charles Matthias
Date: Spring 706 CR, 2 weeks before Easter

Overview

Matthias enjoys an evening with his fellow gnawers and a new rat morph, Kimberly.

+ Story info (Spoilers!)

Summary

It has been a week since The Fight That Never Happened, and Matthias meets Michael again in the courtyard. Michael is curious about why Matthias doesn't have his chewing stick, and even more curious when he hears that Matthias is going to a monthly meeting of the Gnawer's Support Group. Matthias describes the other members of the support group, and mentions one particular female rat he is interested in.

In the Mule, Matthias is pleased to see Kimberly wearing the dress he made for her. She is nervous and self-conscious. As he sits next to her, the rodents begin serving food. Matthias offers Kimberly some delicious bread, and remembers when she arrived a month ago.

She had been a lady fleeing an unwanted marriage a country west of Metamor Keep when her carriage was attacked by Lutins, stranding her at the Keep. After a week, her first change was a rat's tail. In despair, she knocked on Matthias's office at the Writer's Guild. She broke down in front of him, while he attempted to console her, telling her what a beautiful person she is inside.

Back in the present, Phil gives Matthias a present. He is reluctant to open it, as Phil's last present was a hunk of petrified wood, but Kimberly is eager to see it. It is an exquisitely carved chewing stick. Matthias is impressed, and puts the stick away for later.

Kimberly is again self-conscious and ashamed about being a rat, and Matthias tells her again that he only wishes her to be happy. He gets some more cheese and bread for her, pleased that the meeting is a success.

Characters

Main Characters:

• Matthias: Headmaster of the Writer's Guild, a rat morph. He is happy being a rat, and is trying to help Saulius and Kimberly come to terms with being a rat.
  • He considers himself the "head rat", even the "head rodent" of the Keep, and has taken it upon himself to better the lives of his fellow rodents.
  • He prides himself on being an upright Follower.
  • He surprised Phil by biting through his gift of petrified wood.

Supporting:

• Phil: Charles's friend, a headmaster of the Writer's Guild, a rabbit morph.
  • He gives Charles a carved piece of cedar as a new chewstick.
  • He often gives Charles odd gifts. At the last meeting, he gave Charles a hunk of petrified wood.
• Kimberly: A rat morph. She arrived shortly before Michael did, and has recently finished her change.
  • She is born to a servant family for a local lord, and she took on many noble mannerisms as she grew older. She refused to marry the man her parents wanted her to marry, so she fled eastward. In Metamor, her carriage was attacked by Lutins. Though initially frightened by the monstrous Keepers, she chose to stay, hoping to become a pretty animal, but she is horrified by the thought of becoming a rat.
  • She wears an azure blue dress that Charles gave to her a week ago. She also had an emerald green dressing gown she wore as a human.
• Michael: A newcomer to the Keep. He is changing very slowly
  • Michael's change has only gone as far as the fur on his back and his teeth, from which Matthias concludes that he is not going to be an equine.

Minor characters:

• Benedict: A mouse morph. He is very chipper and talkative for a mouse.
• Gregor: The Keep baker, one of the best in Metamor Keep, and a capybara morph. He is very wealthy.
  • One of his specialties is bread with butter melted into the dough.

Important Mention:

• Pascal: The Keep alchemist, a porcupine morph. She never attends the Gnawer's Support Group meetings, preferring to work on experiments.
• Donny: The bartender of the Deaf Mule. The repairs to his tables are paid for by the Duke.
• Saulius: A rat morph, who used to be a knight before the curse. He is too ashamed of his form to emerge from the cellars where he lives, except on nights of the Gnawer's Support Group.
  • Charles has been visiting him daily for over 2 years.
• Macey: A rodent, most likely a mouse, who is too sick to attend the support group. He will be spending the next fortnight recovering in the cellars.
• A female rabbit morph, the only other rabbit morph to have ever lived at the Keep, who died a few years ago from a Lutin attack on the wall she was patrolling.

Referenced:

• Copernicus: A lizard morph who plays pool at the Deaf Mule.
• Brian Coe: The Keep physician, a raccoon morph.
• The carpenter who has to repair Donny's tables.
• Duke Thomas: The ruler of Metamor Keep.

Chronology / Story Connections

• This story takes place "a fortnight" after Michael has been at the Keep, and a week after the events of The Fight That Never Happened.

Points of Interest

• There are 20 gnawers in total: 8 rats, 4 mice, 1 rabbit, 2 porcupines, 3 guinea pigs, 1 capyberran, and 1 squirrel.
  • Most of the rats are not happy with their forms, Charles being an exception.
  • The mice are also not happy, though not to the extent the rats are.
  • The rabbit, the capybara, and the porcupines are all happy with their forms.
  • Charles is not sure how happy the squirrel and the guinea pigs are.

Behind the Scenes

• This is the first mention of Copernicus's famous skill at pool.
• This is the first mention of the Sondeckis.
• This is the first mention of the Follower religion.
• There is a consistency error here. Although Charles mentions Phil is the only currently-living rabbit resident of the Keep, a later story includes the rabbit morph Cathal, who has lived at the Keep since the Battle of the Three Gates and is well-acquainted with Charles.

	Matthias's First Cycle	Second Cycle >
Stories	Stories in yellow are not part of the cycle proper, but give important context for other stories.
	Metamor Keep · Writer's Guild · The Fight That Never Happened · Support Group · Facing Knight · Confession · Evening Stroll · Especially Disappointed · Escaping · Escalation · Errands and Editors · The Secrets in Truth · A Small Repair · Equinox Arriveth · Entertaining Thoughts of Eucharist · The Effects of Rising Too Early · Eating at the Duke's Table · Easter Endeth · Early to Sleep
Characters	Charles Matthias · Kimberly · Channing · Elliot · Goldmark · Hector · Father Hough · Julian · Loriod · Michael · Nahum · Phil · Saulius · Tallis · Thalberg · Duke Thomas · Zhypar Habakkuk