[Mkguild] Divine Travails of Rats - Postscript

[C. Matthias]

My Fellow Keepers,

In 1997 Copernicus created Metamor Keep for all of the newcomers on 
the TSA.  There were other story settings that were quite popular at 
the time but unless you were one of the early members of the TSA it 
was hard to break into them.  I had joined the TSA that year and so I 
naturally gave Metamor Keep a try.  I wrote my first two stories in 
rather quick succession, having already determined that my main 
character -- named after myself since I was mentioned by name in the 
intro story -- had a secret strength that he was keeping hidden and 
that the character Zhypar Habakkuk knew it and was trying to get him 
to admit it.  The names of their orders, the details on each of their 
secrets was not fully clear to me just yet, but it was a start.

And then I started working on a third story, this one introducing 
Lady Kimberly.  I struggled with it for a few months in which time I 
wondered whether I was going to keep writing in Metamor Keep since my 
character had been ignored by everyone else who had contributed 
stories (despite Copernicus's intent, many of the "old-timers" on the 
list did manage to write a few stories in which they all basically 
hung out with each other in one capacity or another).  But I did 
manage to finish the tale and over the next couple of months I 
cranked out another dozen tales, almost all of which were focused on 
the relationship between Charles and Kimberly, as well as a few 
spotlights on the other rats.  While working on these tales I managed 
to figure out the basics of Charles and Habakkuk's back-stories, and 
I also began to imagine a much larger tale that would unfold through 
all my short stories.

At this point most of the old-guard left Metamor Keep including 
Copernicus who left the TSA entirely.  Chris Okane started writing 
his Long Scout stories and included me in his story "A Small Repair" 
which Roy Pounds did a picture for (and which I am still extremely 
fond of).  Nor was that my only collaborative touch as Fox Cutter and 
I wrote a tale together, and then Christopher Hughes included me in 
his tale "Fetish".  The latter altered the trajectory of my character 
significantly.  Most people would object to having their plans turned 
on their head like that.  I saw it as a golden opportunity and can 
state that no other story by another author has changed my course so 
dramatically as that.  And then Phil Geusz wanted to write a story with me...

But even before some of this had happened things had been brewing in 
my head.  During the Spring of 1998 as I wrapped up my first cycle of 
stories I devised a broad outline for the tales I would tell in 
Metamor Keep.  My intention was to use the setting to hone my writing 
for a few years (five to ten I thought) and then take the skills I 
had created and move on to other ventures.  I was inspired by Babylon 
5's story arc that involved the defeat of a great enemy to the 
universe and then the little species-specific battles that had to be 
fought to undo their damage.  I was also inspired by the epic scope 
of Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" trilogy which seemed to 
bring the past into the present; the very history of his world 
mattered to the story and gave it direction.  I had not felt that in 
anything other than Tolkein.  I wanted to capture that essence for my 
tale, as well as use the idea of three great weapons being brought 
together to resurrect an ancient power; the character of Abafouq the 
Binoq was inspired by one of Tad's characters in fact.

And so in that Spring of 1998 I devised the Marzac plot and launched 
it with my story "Admissions and Applications".  The scope and size 
of the continent was lost on me at the time and I chuckle at some of 
the distances I had assumed back then.  I did not know all the 
details along the way, but I wanted to have a group of Keepers make a 
journey through many lands to Marzac where they would defeat the 
evil.  And I wanted Charles to have to make a personal journey of 
cleansing that mimicked Dante's trek through Inferno and 
Purgatorio.  When that was complete I would have written everything I 
had set out to write for Metamor.  I figured it would take five maybe 
ten years at most to tell it all.

But then Phil wanted to write a story with me.  "Keeping the Lamp 
Lit" forced me to destroy one of the villains I had crafted (Lord 
Loriod) but it gave me the opportunity to create the trio of Yonson, 
Agathe, and Zagrosek who would appear again and again in the stories 
that followed.  We also, due to the objection of one of the old guard 
of the TSA who didn't want his character used anymore, had to create 
the character Wessex who I was then able to set on a path of my own 
choosing.  Phil knew that what he had intended to do in Metamor Keep 
would destroy the feel of the setting (turning it into a Steampunk 
rather than a Fantasy setting).  I loved the fantasy aspect and 
wanted to emphasize it all the more.  I am privileged to have written 
the story with him and am grateful to him for helping expand what I 
had only the germ of in mind.

Already I had in mind the three artifacts of Yajakali, and 
introducing the censer as we did was a great way to take what had 
been references only I would understand and bring it to the next 
level.  Now the readers understood that a longer-range story was in 
the works and that there were more evils out there than just 
Nasoj.  I now had the question "What happened to the censer?" to 
drive a lot of the stories that would follow in the rest of the 
second cycle and throughout the third cycle.  I wanted a little more 
than that though; I wanted a monster to strike terror, and so I 
created the Shrieker and introduced it toward the end of the second 
cycle (in "Dialoges" I believe).  But most of the second cycle was of 
tamer matters and so the hints were always subtle.

While home with my family one Thanksgiving I looked over my family 
bookshelves and saw the Redwall books that I had loved as a child.  I 
wanted to create a place in Metamor that could be like Mossflower 
Woods.  And so I devised Glen Avery.  At the time I was helping edit 
Chris Okane's stories, and as he had paid me so handsome a compliment 
as to include me in one of his own, I decided to include Misha in the 
story that introduced Glen Avery ("Declarations of Allegiance").  I 
had intended it to be a place that would show up from time to time to 
have more woodlands adventures and so the tone of the story was kept 
light with focus on the country-folk and how everyone knew everyone 
else (a hedgehog bearing pies, a bear with a brewery, the town run by 
squirrels, etc...).  Yet the character of Garigan, intended as a 
one-off, kept asking for more attention.  And then I knew he had to 
be a Sondeckis like Charles.

Of course, all of this was in the background of my dear friend Chris 
Hoekstra's creation of Rickkter and how much he and Charles hated 
each other!  Chris and I even then wrote a story together "The Three 
Sides of Truth" to show poor Garigan hearing about the conflict 
between the Sondeckis and Kankoran from three different 
perspectives.  It may not seem like much happened compared to later 
years, but so much was started there in that second cycle, all of 
which stories I wrote in 1998 and 1999!

With the third cycle I had the delight of working with Chris Okane on 
several stories and even plotting out some things for our characters, 
including Charles becoming a Long Scout -- believe it or not, they 
were supposed to be a super secret organization!  But even while 
Charles had some lighter adventures, I still wanted to move forward 
with this big idea I had.  In "Fireside" I had Misha tell a 
children's rhyme that mentioned the Binoq.  In "Hunt" we uncover the 
Long House.  And then in "Intercessor" I introduced the plot twist 
nobody saw coming, the hyacinth!  I remember the first time I 
introduced Jessica it was because I needed Wessex to have an 
apprentice.  I didn't really have any female characters other than 
Lady Kimberly, and I certainly didn't have any avians and it seemed 
like a nice idea.  Having her fall in love with the captain of 
Yonson's guard just sort of happened but I'm glad it did.  But after 
Charles warned everyone about Marzac, I needed a way for people to 
forget that Yonson was dangerous, and so the hyacinth was planted.

I knew Wessex would die from his efforts to pursue Marzac, and so I 
wanted to spend as much time as possible with him before I killed 
him.  And so, little by little the stories grew longer and there were 
more of them.  I introduced Qan-af-arael in a short little scene that 
I knew nobody would get.  I nailed down Habakkuk's role in the big 
story and started revealing things little by little about him 
(working with Chris Hoekstra was fun here too).  I had everything I 
was going to write through the Winter Solstice plotted out and 
detailed, even the Patriarch's arrival and murder (though several 
characters in his entourage surprised me with having stories of their 
own) was planned.

And most especially of all, the story "Nuptials" was planned and read 
to my wife, then girlfriend, on a special day.  The poem used for the 
proposal was exactly how I proposed to my wife.  We have been married 
for almost fifteen years now and Metamor Keep has always been part of 
it, even if only in the background.

And then Ryx had a little idea...

And what a little idea it was!  I had been enjoying his stories right 
from the first and was thrilled to have him writing for Metamor 
Keep.  I commented on each of them and made little suggestions.  He 
was the first to have his characters visit Glen Avery since my own 
time there.  He wrote a little scene with his character bumping into 
Lady Kimberly and somehow from that developed a friendship that led 
to her becoming Murikeer's pupil.  I had not imagined that direction 
for her but I was thrilled by it and was glad to incorporate it into 
my own stories.  But Winter Assault....

Winter Assault changed so much and moved so many goalposts for me.  I 
returned to Glen Avery myself, another walk-on character decided to 
flirt with Charles which led to yet another plot arc, and now we were 
allowed to see what three Sondeckis could do together.  I had the 
chance to show Zagrosek being good and I liked it.  Thank you, Ryx!

Of course, "Winter's First Chill", which preceded Winter Assault, was 
truly for me a climax in my long-range story as it was the first time 
we actually got to see a Shrieker for real.  And I indulged my 
mathematical training as the space in which they fought the Shrieker 
was a Lobachevskian hyperbolic geometry (multiple parallel lines 
through a single point).  The death of Wessex though was painful to 
write.  In the short time he'd been in Metamor I'd fallen in love 
with his character and I hated that I was forced to kill him.

That said, one thing he saw in that story, his dream there, featured 
nine dancers.  This was a reference to what would happen in the Hall 
of Unearthly Light in "Last Tale of Yajakali" which I would finally 
be able to write nine years later.

The fourth cycle was about bringing everything together so that we 
could begin the massive journey story.  But so many little threads 
that had begun in Winter Assault needed to be addressed.  Thomas's 
addiction to the halter, culminating in "Never Again a Man" took a 
considerable amount of time (and won me an Ursa Major award to 
boot!)  Then there was Vinsah's tale which became bound up with the 
journey of Ryx's characters Murikeer and Malger.  And of course I 
indulged myself by showing off as much of Glen Avery as possible once 
I exiled Charles there.  The story "Wagging Tongues Will" allowed me 
to accomplish so much, such as introducing the other evil accomplice 
of Marzac, Bishop Jothay, as well as show the Sword.  And I had to 
create some ancient artifact called The Pillars of Ahdyojiak so that 
I could justify how difficult it was to teleport over vast distances 
(and avoid somebody just asking why I didn't use teleport spells to 
accomplish stuff later)  And, at Phil's request, I found a way to get 
his character out of Metamor Keep.

Probably one thing most people did not like that I did in the fourth 
cycle was introduce the Magyars.  Thieves and tricksters they have 
been greeted with dismay by most everyone and several people have 
told me that they tend to skip over their stories.  Yet I love them 
dearly and I think I've created some of the most interesting places 
in their tales.  The city of Cheskych is a marvel that I yearn to 
more fully describe, and the ancient city of Carethedor high in the 
mountains was a delight to explore.  I will never forget the fight 
with the undead dragon there!  Of course, there is also the place 
that confused people even more, Cenziga.  I knew what it was from the 
very first moment and those who have read "Last Tale of Yajakali" 
will understand.  Inspired by the works of Tim Powers (specifically 
"Declare") it was the anti-thesis to Marzac and the substance to fill 
in the cleft created there.  All that survived it were duplicated in 
a sense.  Marzac nullified all that came to it.

One thing that did become apparent to me in this time was that I 
looked forward to certain face-offs more than others.  I was pumped 
for the fight between Nemgas and Czestadt (whose name I thought was 
cool until I realized it was typed entirely with the left hand), but 
few others seemed to feel any excitement in it.  I was electrified 
the first time we met the Marquis, but others just wondered who that 
was (though not for long!)  So yes, in that I had some 
disappointments but that is how it always will be with 
story-telling.  That said, I was thrilled when everyone had the same 
reaction as Rickkter to Habakkuk's proclamation, "It's the 
Hyacinth!"  Nobody had a clue that it had been there the whole time, 
even though I mentioned it frequently!

Nor was I disappointed by the huge battle sequence in "Lineaments of 
Coming Night".  I deliberately gave Saroth and Electra a role in it 
because I loved their stories from way back in the early days of 
Metamor (it was 2004 at this point) and wanted to show them that 
appreciation.  I loved pitting all of those big name Metamorians in 
the belfry against the three wizards.  Giving Charles the hand-print 
scar over his right eye was done on a whim, as was turning him into 
stone, but dang was it cool!  Chris Hoekstra gave me permission 
(actually, he suggested it!) to do what I did to Rickkter and boy was 
I going to make sure that Rickkter went down after one heck of a 
fight!  Every moment of that fight, a fifty page long sequence, made 
my day.  At this point I cannot even recall what anybody else thought 
about it.  I loved it and still love it!

What "Lineaments of Coming Night" did was set me up for the massive 
journey.  I took a year away from Metamor so that I could plan and 
try some other things.  During that time I got a new job, had to move 
from my home to someplace I'd never been before, and my wife and I 
did a lot of new things together.  I wanted to tell it in a single 
story that was shaped like a novel.  So I had to have chapters, 
chapter titles, and a very clear chronology.  I wrote seven separate 
(yet intersecting) plot lines, determined the scenes that had to 
occur for each, and then figured out how to interleave them together 
so that it would all make sense and have dramatic timing.  And then, 
beginning in 2006 I started writing.  It took three and a half years 
but finally "Last Tale of Yajakali" was complete and one of the most 
important scenes I had in mind back in 1998 was finally accomplished.

And since then I have been trying to reach that other scene I had in 
mind, of the journey through Inferno and Purgatorio that Charles 
would undertake.  It has taken me six years of work on my sixth cycle 
of stories to finally reach that point.  Like the fourth cycle I 
planned out all of the stories I would write, their dates, titles, 
and even a rough guess of how long each would be.  And yes, like all 
of my cycles, the titles were in either alphabetical or reverse 
alphabetical order.  Just a little bit of OCD there!

In the end I didn't write a few of the stories (the story where 
Guernef and Abafouq shed their corruption was to be called "Grappling 
Between Stone and Sky") because of severe burnout I was suffering in 
2012 (the story "Heading to All Tomorrows" took me almost the entire 
year to write and yet is one of the shorter tales of the sixth 
cycle).  I also had a story in mind showing how Berchem lost himself 
while a female skunk and started to think he really was Rhena (to 
highlight the hyacinth's power and Jessica's corruption) but it never 
gelled with me.  There were a couple of others I abandoned because I 
collapsed their plots together ("Inchoate Carillon, Inconstant 
Cuckold" is essentially two stories merged into one).  And there was 
one story which came out of the blue because I was inspired by my 
vacation to Maine to celebrate my tenth anniversary; this would be 
"Healing Wounds in Arabarb".  I had always intended to kill Calephas 
myself, but this allowed me the chance to showcase Lindsey's home and 
his complex relationships there.  Yes, I did get carried away at 
times exploring that land.  And I had the opportunity to follow 
through on something I had discussed with Bill Kieffer way back when, 
having Wicked Potter end up a toy of Calephas.  But what truly caught 
me by surprise was the villain Gmork; yet another one-off that 
decided they were too cool to die!

Those who had been reading carefully already know that Lindsey's 
draconic heritage was decided much earlier.  But so much else of this 
story surprised even me as it spun from my pen.  If I had to name my 
top three stories in all of Metamor Keep, "Healing Wounds in Arabarb" 
is one of the three.  While I did screw up the properties of White 
Phosphorus, I felt like at its end, I had been to Fjellvidden, I had 
hidden from Gmork and his slaves, I had been a dragon with 
Pharcellus, I had wept with fear with Quoddy and Machias, and I had 
schemed with Lindsey's parents to bring about the end to Calephas's 
tyranny.  Everyone had a tale in that story, and nobody was 
unimportant.  I would offer this story up to anyone as a story in 
which my heart lives.

And yes, Hallan, I am still sorry that I gave you nightmares with Gmork!

But there were moments of laughter too.  I think on "Dominion of the 
Hyacinth" where Jessica turns our friends into children and little 
Charles and little Rickkter proceed to try and beat each other up; 
this gets so out of hand that a bear mother gives them both a 
spanking!  I cannot help but laugh when I think of that scene.  It 
shows the lighter side of Metamor is still there despite all the 
struggle and pain.  And in many ways it is another moment of easing 
the tension between Charles and Rickkter.  How serious can you take 
your feud if you've been spanked as a little child for it?

It took two years to finish the next and final tale in my sixth 
cycle.  Ryx and I tossed ideas back and forth for a few months before 
we settled on the basic outlines of the 724 period.  The character of 
Charlie Sutt and how he came to be that way needed to be ironed 
out.  While his power to Dream had been  hinted at for some time, so 
many details of the intervening sixteen years had to be sorted before 
we could even begin.  I have stacks of chat logs where we went back 
and forth considering a wide array of possibilities before we finally 
figured out which one would truly work.  Ryx went whole hog and 
developed the entire Sutt household staff (most of which never showed 
up in the story of course) and I detailed what the Narrows would look 
like and kept track of what scenes came next.  We took turns writing 
and editing most of the material.  Some sections are more Ryx and 
others are more my own.  But every line has been at the very least 
examined by both of us.

And in this story I finally reached the point I had seen back in 1998 
as the culmination and completion of everything I had hoped to 
achieve in Metamor Keep.  With "Divine Travails of Rats" finished, I 
can step away from Metamor knowing that I have accomplished what I 
sought to do.

Metamor Keep is not just a set of stories to me.  It has become a 
foundation for friendships that have endured over a decade and now 
nearly two!  It is the foundation for new friendships and a constant 
source of inspiration.  My heart has been poured into it.  When I 
look at Metamor Keep I see a part of myself staring back at me.  It 
is a vast family that I love and could never abandon.

I do not know what else I will be writing for Metamor Keep in the 
years ahead.  There are many stories I do wish to tell (the journey 
to Sondeshara, the journey to Cheskych, Charlie finding love, Elvmere 
finding his way home, the end of Gmork, more tales of the Fellowship 
of the Egg, etc...) but I have no idea what time will be given to me 
to tell any of them.  My daughter is now two-and-a-half and as such 
she is the center of my life and all writing takes a big back 
seat.  But I am not leaving and I will always be part of Metamor Keep.

And my deepest gratitude and admiration for all of you who choose to 
live here with me in this remarkable place!  After living here almost 
eighteen years, I know this is my home.  And while I may take a 
vacation from time to time, I will always come back here to 
live.  May Metamor Keep outlast us all!

May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love,

Charles Matthias