Expedition 108: Catching a Thief

Ellie and Ranag begin their investigation by questioning the dragonborn. They learn that items were idiosyncratically stolen, valuable items left behind while others were taken. The first dragonborn to report a theft lost a silvered dagger but a pearl and furs were left behind; Kerek and Ulja lost an heirloom shark necklace but jewelry was left behind; Zacharaxaz lost 20 metal cups and all the silver (18sp) from the tavern but no gold.

Investigating the first theft, the pair find no footprints in the snow. They also have poor luck at the tavern with Zacharaxaz: though Ellie makes mouse noises in Squeak Speak to try to find eyewitnesses, she only manages to contact Chip! Following up with Xinea and Vardan, the pair have more luck. The couple shows the kitchen where pots and pans hang from countertop and the window latch closed when they were taken. Ranag notices the wood under the window, small footprints back and forth from it and marks showing something made its way up the chimney. The tracks are not easily followed though. Ellie and Ranag ask Xinea about dragonborn kids with magic: none apparently have the skill yet. Finally, the pair head to Uza and Makar's house. The couple have an egg and two children, Nerek and Basala. They had all their silverware taken, but that was a significant blow: they had no money, the silverware was their most valuable possession.

Chatting with Uza and Makar, the pair learn that Nerek recently had a birthday party which the whole clan attended. The first theft was during the party and Basala seems to be lying about attending her brother's party. Ranag looks for tracks again. He sees one direction of exit seems to be only kids’ footprints so the pair follow the tracks to a burrow or kids’ fort where they manage to hear one side of a conversation.

“I don’t think they’re coming”

“I didn’t tell them anything about you or about the plan but what do I do next???"

“I don’t have enough yet, I don’t think this is enough!”

Ellie shimmies into the fort to see Basala talking into a rat. She squeaks in surprise. Ellie sees all the missing items in the fort but merely says, “cool fort! I used to make these!” As the rat squeaks instructions, Basala picks up the knife and tries to stab Ellie but misses horribly.

“Put the knife down”

“But you caught me, I’m a thief!”

“No, no… can I tell you a secret? I’m a thief too, from time to time. Can you introduce me to your friend?”

The rat morphs into an imp, of course, and exclaims, “I have claimed this one for the forces of eeeeevil! Do-gooders! You shall not get what you want today!”

Ellie grabs for the imp but it stays out of reach. Basala fails to stab Ellie, screaming “I am a mighty warrior!”. Ellie puts up a shield to keep the imp from hitting her.

“I will defeat you, I am the most powerful fiend in these lands!”

Ranag tries to pick up the fort but collapses the roof while the imp stabs at Ellie again, hitting the shield. Ellie grabs the knife from Basala and tosses it away. Ranag matrix-style dodges the knife.

The imp yells at Basala, “Child! I invigorate you! The strength of the underworld is yours!”

Basala casts eldritch blast at Ellie, missing. Then she runs for the knife. The imp tries to stab Ellie again and fails. Ranag tries to grab the imp and bashes it against the ground. It stings him fruitlessly.

Ellie, continuing her attempts at deescalation, confides, “Funny story, I actually befriended a devil too a couple months ago…” She grabs for the knife again. “We can talk about this!”

“Child, you must fight back to fulfill your destiny!”

Ellie pulls out her sword, switching it to piercing and running for the imp. Basala has been empowered by the imp and eldritch blasts Ellie but due to her luck misses. The imp continues to poke Ranag ineffectively.

“You will unhand me!”

“I will not unhand you!” Ranag slams it against the ground again. It pokes Ranag again. Ellie takes it down with her blade, then sits down next to Basala who is crying. “What’s wrong?”

“I feel bad, I stole from all those people… and now my friend is dead.”

“He ain’t dead, just knocked out for a bit.”

“Are you gonna tell my parents?”

“I don’t know yet… can you tell me how you met your friend? And why you’re stealing all this stuff?”

“It was the night of my brother’s party, I was out in the woods, I had left because no one was paying attention to me, only to my brother. And I met Mixie who said if I wanted attention I needed to be a big strong warrior and I needed weapons and stuff. So I stole it all from the people who were mean to me.”

They arrange to tie up the imp and hand it over to a higher authority, though it continues to threaten, “I came through once, I can come through again…”

Ellie tries to console Basala. “If you want to become a warrior I could help you… but only if you want. I can tell your clan that it was the imp’s fault.” Meanwhile the imp continues to curse. “The child is mine! She will always serve evil! Kill her now and save yourself the trouble!”

“Mixie why would you say that?”

“I got through on accident before, now that I know the way I can do it again!” It bites its own tail to poison itself, forgetting it is immune. The imp spits.

Ranag takes the imp to Valorie and Yezra’s home but before they can imprison it, it pierces itself and disappears. The items are returned without explanation and the reward dispensed.