Story name: Vantage Point
Author: Joanne Hunter
Publication date: April 6, 2001 (on TSA-Talk)
Date: Late summer or early autumn, 706 CR (2 days)
Location: Glen Avery
Overview
A day in the life of Joanne Hunter, as she and Mrs Levins cook up a brilliant Plan.
Summary
Joanne, a gray fox herbalist, has recently moved to Glen Avery, while Jono has remained behind in Metamor. Every evening, she likes to visit a cliff overlooking the valley and the ancient ruins of an outpost, her "vantage point". Here, she likes to think about Jono, her friends, her travels, her struggles, her hopes, and about the ruins. As the sun sets, she gets up and returns to Glen Avery.
The next morning, she treats several patients for hangovers, and begins restocking her medicine. After some time making medicine capsules, she closes up and packs for an expedition. The Avery twins ambush her, calling her a Lutin spy, but Angus "rescues" her, praises the twins' valor, and sends them away.
After Angus leaves, Joanne continues to Kevin's house, and both visit Mrs Levins to pick up some baskets. Kevin had discovered something a few days before that Joanne was interested in, and now they'll get as much as they can so that Mrs Levins can help them on a big Plan. The baskets are heavy, but they return without being spotted, and work until mid-afternoon on their creation.
Erica, Jo's apprentice, is at the shop, and has been healing patients and finishing up Jo's capsules. Jo says she was out doing woodcraft; Erica suspects otherwise, but says nothing. Joanne gets her sketchbooks and heads to the woods. While there, the newly-healed Marcus sneaks up on her, and Joanne nearly stabs him. She forces an apology out of him, and tells him to get back to the apothecary before Erica finds him missing.
That evening, all of Glen Avery gathers for the Unveiling. Lord Avery is the first to call everyone's attention, but as he has no idea what The Plan is, he calls on Joanne. After an agonizingly long-winded speech, she lifts the blanket to reveal her and Mrs Levin's newest creation: strawberry pie. Everyone rushes for a plate.
After the feast, just before sunset, Lars lets Joanne return to her vantage point, carrying a magic torch for light. There, she ponders the fortress, her adventures with Jono, and her newfound home at Glen Avery. As twilight falls, she walks back to start another day.
Characters
Main Characters:
- Joanne Hunter: A gray fox morph, Jono's surrogate sister, Glen Avery's herbalist and apothecary. She moved to Glen Avery after some dissatisfaction with life at the Keep.
- She has digitigrade feet. As a gray fox, she is skilled at climbing trees, which she loved doing since she was a child.
- She had always loved foxes and their keen senses, swift cunning, and closeness with nature. She had hoped to be one, and had very mixed feelings upon being one: shock, joy, but also ironic cynicism.
- She always carries her father's twin daggers with her, in case of an attack.
- She also owns a Pen, a gift from a Southern Midlands wizard. See "Society".
- She is able to use local flowers for her medicines.
- As an herbalist, her job consists mostly of making medicines, rather than exploring and finding plants.
- In her spare time, as one of her projects, she is working on a formula that can repel bees.
- Among her favorite hobbies is drawing. She can't draw portraits, but is supposedly very good at landscapes. She sometimes enjoys drawing from unconventional perspectives.
- Every night, without fail, she visits Lars's brewery.
- While at the Keep, she was constantly on patrols and frequently fought Lutins. This was one reason she moved to Glen Avery.
- She credits herself with being more cautious and saving Jono's life many times. She is content to live in the moment, without the need for adventure or travel.
- She has digitigrade feet. As a gray fox, she is skilled at climbing trees, which she loved doing since she was a child.
Supporting Characters:
- Annette Levins: A hedgehog morph, Glen Avery's exemplary piemaker. She helps Jo create the Plan — Glen Avery's first strawberry pie.
- Her specialty is blackberry pies. Besides pies, she also makes cookies, and prepares feasts for events at the tavern.
- She prefers one-on-one interactions over crowds, so that she can meet people. Thus, she has turned down Lars's request to work in his tavern.
Minor Characters:
- Morgan: A bobcat morph, a Glen Avery scout. He shows up in the morning for a hangover cure from Jo.
- He is normally very sociable, but is irritable and impatient when hungover.
- Marcus: A pine marten morph, Glen Avery scout. He was seriously wounded while fighting Lutins, but Erica treated him after the battle, and needed only fresh bandages from Joanne on return. He sneaks up on Joanne two days later to show he is healed, despite Jo being well-armed and dangerous.
- He is young, but has been a scout for longer than most Glen Avery scouts. He is very good at sneaking up and disappearing.
- He is foolish and boastful, but not stubborn and can admit to his mistakes. He was one of the few who could calm down Garigan's anger.
- He and Erica are seen holding hands at the dinner — a possible special relationship together.
- Erica: A deer morph, Joanne's apprentice in Glen Avery, and a Glen Avery scout. She arrived just before midday
- She and Marcus are seen holding hands at the dinner — a possible special relationship together.
- Angus: A badger morph, head of the Glen Avery scouts. He is a friend of Joanne. He tries to get the secret early from Joanne by worrying aloud.
- He is very nice, but tends to give away secrets too easily.
- Christopher Avery and Darien Avery: Twin sons of Brian Avery, both squirrel morphs. They are loved by many citizens of Glen Avery for their energy and enthusiasm in their games, which they sometimes play on unsuspecting Glenners.
- They are both 5 years old (born 701 CR).
- Kevin: A sparrow morph, a Glen Avery scout.
- He joined the Glen Avery scouts two months ago.
- Jeremy: A skunk morph in Glen Avery. He regularly gets stung by bees, and today, after guard duty, he got some relief from Erica for a sting.
- Walter Levins: A female gendermorph, Annette's wife, the Glen's tailor. She made blankets to cover the strawberry pies, but otherwise knew nothing about them.
Cameo:
- Lars: A black bear morph, Glen Avery's brewer and tavernkeep.
- Brian Avery: A squirrel morph, lord of Glen Avery. He is a very humble, down-to-earth lord.
- Angela Avery: A squirrel morph, Brian Avery's wife.
- Burrim: A woodpecker morph, a mage of Glen Avery, specializing in wood. He is seen at the Unveiling seated next to Kevin.
Important Mention:
- Jonothan "Jono" Hand: A black panther morph, Jo's surrogate brother, a storyteller in the Keep.
- He owns a magic pen, like Jo's — see "Society".
- Jono entertains people with songs, stories (such as his and Jo's coming to Metamor), and sleight-of-hand. He is fond of claiming that since sleight-of-hand impresses real mages, that it is a superior kind of magic to theirs. He loves his job, and he is unlikely to take time off unless he is ill.
- He gets his ideas for stories from his adventures. He could never invent stories.
- Joanne describes him as reckless who wanted to see the world.
- Coe: A raccoon morph, the Keep physician. Ever since one thick battle, Joanne had been assisting him, until she moved to the Glen.
- Rosemary: Jo's apprentice at the Keep. When Jo left for Glen Avery, Rosemary stayed at the Keep to assist Coe.
- She was a quick learner. She knows basic herbal preparations well, though she can't yet discover her own medicines.
- Parris: A mouse morph, one of the youngest scouts in Glen Avery. She bumped her head while sparring, and got an ice pack from Erica today.
- She had just reached puberty. She joined the scouts with Kevin two months ago.
Referenced:
- A renegade Kankoran, with whom Jono and Jo had a not-enjoyable adventure.
- Nasoj: The evil wizard in the Giantdowns who cursed Metamor.
- Kammoloth: Chief god of the Lothanasi.
- Joanne's father, who owned the twin daggers that Joanne now possesses.
- Garigan: A ferret morph, a Glen Avery scout, who moved to Metamor and told Joanne about Glen Avery before she moved there. He is still living at the Keep.
- The Southern Midlands wizard who gifted Jono and Jo each with a magic pen. He used to sell them to artists in the Midlands.
- Another Southern Midlands wizard who gifted Joanne with a relightable torch.
- A head wizard of Sathmore, whom Jono and Jo met on a ship they'd become stranded on.
Locations
- Joanne's and Erica's apothecary is in Glen Avery, accessed by a door just below root level. There is a sign by a door, saying whether or not "The Vixen Is Elsewhere".
- The front room is where Joanne and Erica see patients.
- The back room is where Joanne and Erica prepare their medicine.
- The drying bin is where they keep their wet capsules to dry.
- The current storage pack is where they keep their stock of ready medicine.
- Stairs up from the front room to Erica's (and possibly Marcus's) room.
- Stairs down from the front room lead underground to Joanne's room. It has a large closet for her clothing (including a climbing tunic) and her bow and quiver. It is furnished with a soft grass rug (made by Walter), a bed, a desk with a chair and her Pen for making notes, and a bookcase with herbalism notes and references, and sketchbooks. There are no pictures on the wall (unusual for a home in the Glen), though there is a target opposite Jo's bed for late-night target practice. Also stored here are her father's magic twin daggers and herb collecting bags.
- In the woods west of Glen Avery is a strawberry patch. No one knows about it until Kevin discovered it a couple days ago.
- Far to the west of the Glen, just before the mountains, is the unknown clearing. It is 20 "fox paces" wide where nothing grows; just outside of it, very tall trees grow. For years it has been studied by mages across the world, but no magic influence or soil deficiency was found.
- The fortress ruins west of Glen Avery are out of sight to most. The walls are almost gone, being overgrown with moss and crumbling. Originally, it would have had guard towers on each corner, and strong if not tall walls. Some people talk about restoring it for military use, which for now is just talk.
- It lies low on the back of a cliff. The cliff is 100 feet high above the trees. An outcropping of rocks 1.5 meters from the cliff's edge forms a natural Vantage Point. The top of this cliff is the tallest site for a mile or so, although it is shorter than the mountains to the west.
- Both the ruins and the cliff are reached through a worn, almost hidden path from the Glen. The path can be reached just past the "unknown clearing" above, via a 7-foot climb from the nearby forest floor.
Society
- The most popular medicine from Joanne in Glen Avery is "Will 'o' Mary", a hangover cure, also good for headaches. Its active ingredients are willow bark and rosemary. Usually, one dose is taken in the morning, and one in the afternoon.
- Silverleaf is extraordinarily rare, but it is the most effective cure for bee venom (taken with birch).
- Joanne's medicines are made in capsule form, with a binding powder made from ground blackberries and maple leaf. Sticky when wet, firm when dry, these components do not affect the medicine and even gives them a pleasant taste.
- Glen Avery houses typically have pictures on their walls.
- Glen Avery does not have a library; most books were destroyed in the Battle of Three Gates. Even today, most Glenners don't have a bookcase of their own.
- Metamor Keep requires all able-bodied citizens to take part in patrol duty. In contrast, Glen Avery relies on a smaller set of scouts.
- Joanne's Pen is a specially designed wand that never runs out of ink, and teleports to its owner if it ever gets lost. It is able to vary in tone with force, like charcoal.
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- Note it apparently does not teleport if the owner does not choose it.
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- Legends abound of "Kings of the Road", who could defend themselves with little more than wit and song.
Chronology / Story Connections
- Among the adventures which Jo and Jono had:
- When Jo was a child, her family was killed by Inquisitionists. Jono ran into her in a tavern, and his family adopted her.
- Jo and Jono were stranded on a ship, where they met a head wizard of Sathmore.
- Jo and Jono had another adventure escaping the eastern swamps.
- Two months ago, Kevin and Parris joined the Glen Avery scouts.
- One month ago, Jo left Metamor and moved to Glen Avery. Jono stayed behind in Metamor to entertain commoners. Jono has not visited Glen Avery since (although he has promised to on occasion).
- The amount of time between Jo's arrival at the Keep (in Coming to Metamor Keep) and her move to Glen Avery is not given, but was long enough to make friends with Garigan.
- Some time after she moved to Glen Avery, a Lutin nearly broke through Glen Avery's defenses. Angus was the only person it met, and was quickly killed. The incident spooked Joanne, though, and she has had her dad's twin daggers on her ever since.
- It is not yet autumn, as the leaves are still green; and Garigan has not returned to Glen Avery. This dates the story sometime in summer 706 CR. See Coming to Metamor Keep for more.
- On day 0, a Glen Avery scouting party (including Morgan, Marcus, and Erica) found and captured a Lutin scouting party. Marcus was seriously injured but was given field treatment by Erica.
- Also on this day, Kevin discovers a strawberry patch.
- On day 1, Joanne visits the ruins.
- On day 2, Joanne spends the morning making medicines, then takes off to help Kevin and Mrs Levins with The Plan. She goes to the strawberry patch and returns before midday to pick up herbs and spices from her house.
- Erica opens Jo's shop just before midday. She treats Parris and Jeremy, checks Marcus's bandages, gave 3 others their 2nd dose of Will'o'Mary, and finished up Joanne's incomplete Will'o'Mary capsules.
- Angus spends most of the day on guard duty along the eastern border.
- Joanne returns to her shop in mid-afternoon for a sketchbook. Shortly after, Marcus leaves and follows Joanne to her tree.
- All of Glen Avery shows up for The Plan's unveiling at Lars's brewery. Lars has plates and napkins on hand, though hidden so as not to spoil Jo's surprise.
Continuity
- "Jeremy" is the name of the skunk morph in Glen Avery; other stories establish that there is only one skunk in Glen Avery, whose name is Berchem. Presumably, Joanne has confused Berchem's name with a more common one.