Thieves

[beshackled]

Sender: Erichthonios
To: Everyone
Subject: Avaricious harriers

Pray tell, has anyone else been having trouble with small creatures attempting to make off with your belongings?

They are getting to be remarkably b----

[The b terminates in a long, curved line, as though the writer was startled in the middle of writing.

Sometime later...]

brazen.

Comments

Sender: Ralsei

[a_sweet_little_peach]

I haven't! I just got back, are --

The writing trails off, down the side of the page.

Minutes later, it continues.

Oh, I see. Yes, that would be a problem.

[beshackled]

Is aught amiss?

[He takes it that the one writing to him is not unwell. Perhaps, like himself, they had become distracted by something...? Hopefully not the same thing, though the thieves have been making the rounds, so he has heard...]

[a_sweet_little_peach]

[He chuckles softly to himself, having this time secured his door.]

Oh, a pixie darted in and grabbed my frypan while I wasn't looking. I managed to get it back, but I, ah, see what you mean about the trouble with thieves. I wonder what's gotten into them? They're usually -- pests, perhaps, but usually quite livably so.

[beshackled]

I am wondering the same. They have never troubled me before, but their attempts seem

[A brief pause here, the page unmarred by any sudden strokes. The thoughts of this man churn slowly.]

driven. I cannot help but think there must be a reason behind their actions.

[a_sweet_little_peach]

I hope that they are not being... somehow enchanted to do this. They've always been mischievous, but they certainly do not deserve to be treated as though their minds are playthings.

[What would it mean if they were? Well, whoever's responsible... would need a reason to do so. Either keeping the people here distracted, or wanting something in particular from the town that the pixies would deliver to them. Perhaps.]

If so... it might behoove us to keep our ears to the ground. If someone is responsible for their behavior, they can't want anything good of it.

cw: mentions of suicide

[beshackled]

'Tis possible, I admit, that this string of thefts may be coordinated. Enthrallment could very well be a means by which this could be achieved, and would explain why I could not get an answer out of them when I attempted to question them.

Those who are enthralled are not typically inclined to provide answers.

[His pen lingers on the punctuation, the dot growing ever larger as he recalls his mentor, Hesperos, who took his own life in order to prevent them from learning what had happened to him...]

[a_sweet_little_peach]

I hope that that is not what is happening, but -- I suppose, we will see.

Do you have experience with dealing with such enthrallment? I don't know that there's anything I could do to stop them, other than physically restraining them. Which, I suppose, is one solution -- my dreamotion is over plants, vines in particular.

[There's a pause, as Ralsei considers other possible solutions. He doesn't know of any way to strip enchantments from people...]

I kind of hate being helpless. But at least they're not doing anything more dangerous to people than stealing their things.

[beshackled]

I have witnessed a form of enthrallment, as well as fallen under the influence of such a spell, though I fortunately managed to break free from it. Without knowing how the spell works, if it is indeed a spell at all, I cannot say for certain how I would go about attempting to break it.

Yet that does not leave you helpless. Binding one who is enthralled grants one the precious time needed to figure out how to save them.

[a_sweet_little_peach]

[He lets out a soft sigh and smiles down at the pages beneath him. Erichthonios sort of reminds him of a friend of his...]

You're right, of course. I'm uniquely well suited both to capturing and caring for them -- I usually have enough leftovers in food to pass out to neighbors. If it turns out to be some sort of ensorcellment at work here, it's better to leave that to those better suited to handle it, anyway.

Have you heard of any patterns to the thefts? If this is of more mundane causation, it could be of help in finding out who's responsible.

[beshackled]

In the case of the goddess Ereshkigal and myself, the items they went after are of significant importance to us.

I know not if this is the case for others.

[a_sweet_little_peach]

For me, they went after a frying pan I'm very fond of. It... seems suspect, a little, that they'd be able to target things that are of import to us. If it were just one or two, it would be one thing, but...

It's not.

[beshackled]

Which brings forth yet another question: how do they know? 'Tis not as though I frequently go on at length about the crystal my father gave me.

[a_sweet_little_peach]

Yes, exactly! And while I might have been given my frying pan by the dragon whose child I rescued, it is not exactly a well known fact that I helped raise a dragon hatchling, He hopes, for their sake, if he's being targetted right now, Much less keep in contact with them.

[beshackled]

It sounds as though you've your share of tales to tell. Dragons are not native to my star, so I must admit, I know very little of them.

[a_sweet_little_peach]

Well -- a while back here, at Songerein, some dragons lost their eggs. I think mine was the first that hatched, if I remember correctly, so I helped take care of them for a while before their parent showed up.

[He's eliding a lot of detail, of course -- they reunited under, less than ideal circumstances, but everything worked out in the end.

Ralsei still visits them from time to time. He's not entirely sure what the other dragons think of him, but the relevant ones seem fond enough of Ralsei. He's like a weird fuzzy uncle to them.]

[beshackled]

'Twas kind of you to do so.

[Though he cannot help but wonder... how is it that they lost their eggs?]

[a_sweet_little_peach]

[You know, it was never very clear! At least to him. Maybe someone else worked out how so many dragons lost their eggs.]

It was nothing! I like helping take care of people, and it was hardly a trial to look after them.

[beshackled]

That is good to know. Should I ever encounter a dragon's egg unattended here, I shall be sure to contact you.

[How do they house them, he wonders? Do they build nests? Keep them on cliffs? Are they leathery of texture, or hard? What temperature is ideal? How long do they take to hatch? And what does a hatchling eat?

He might... have to read a book on that sometime. Surely there must be a tome or two around...]

[a_sweet_little_peach]

They at least seem to be -- durable, enough. I found it on the street, so they don't really seem to need much in the way of environmental conditions to hatch well.

[He hopes, at least. It would -- make him feel quite bad if the poor dragonet had had problems because of being out in the open air, even if it's not really his fault.]

[beshackled]

'Tis a relief to know.

My thanks for your knowledge.

[a_sweet_little_peach]

Of course, any time!

[A tiny goat is drawn in the margins, waving.]

[beshackled]

[It is an endearing image. Erichthonios himself does not have much experience with artistic doodles, but he attempts to do the same, drawing a little robed figure with bent arm raised in a gesture of parting.]

Fare you well.