SPQT -- Robyn saves the youth of Tarantium

April 1 - The mission is actually to go in search of the cache Theodosius left for his friend to find! The Church has examined the document I found on the island of the Utopians, and compared it to their records, and asked Uncle if they could have the loan of his confidential staff. Of course, I am immensely pleased to be asked. For the others, it will be an all-volunteer mission and, though I won't refuse anyone who volunteers, I will insist on knowing why they wish to come, and I will make it clear that, in this case, how the mission is accomplished is more important than whether the mission is accomplished.

Even better, the area is in Aquitania, not far from the frontier city we visited before, where the wererat slaves come from. We will be able to look in on the griffins, re-visit that nice tribune and his wife, and find out whether anything has been done about that outrage.

April 2 - Well, this is very disturbing indeed! Ludo had missed his mother so much that I gave permission for him to come shopping with us. I don't believe anyone we knew saw us - we were stopped by the vigiles!!! Naturally, I was braced to defend Gaius from some ridiculous accusation, but the person they were looking for was Ludo - and what was more, they were correct! A merchant had complained of a small child lifting a couple of bracelets from his stall, the judicial mage had cast "locate object," and Ludo did indeed have them in his pockets. He protested that he couldn't remember why he had picked them up, or what he'd intended to do with them. It was all I could do to keep them from hauling him down to their headquarters! Fortunately, I thought to detect magic, and was able to show the judicial mage that he had some sort of enchantment, separate from the locate object and from the detect lie I had cast to prove he was telling the truth. He still wanted to take the poor boy to his own lab, but I persuaded him that he would do better questioning Ludo in familiar surroundings. I had to drop every name in my repertoire and promise use of Uncle's facilities, but at last I succeeded. Naturally, the first thing that occurred to me was that this was another one of Senator V's tricks, and I wasn't about to take the boy onto unfamiliar ground.

It turns out that there has been a rash of thefts in that market for several weeks, assumed to be the work of a gang. As previously apprehended culprits had all been small children, it was assumed to be an organization of corrupted youth; but the spell traces put a new light on it. The possibility that Ludo is an active target here is lessened by this information, but cannot yet be ruled out. The vigiles will be looking into the possibility that some criminally-minded mage has a new area-of-effect enchantment; but we will not fail to investigate for ourselves. The only adult Ludo noticed looking at him particularly was a fancily-dressed man who muttered. Gaius and Alfredus went out, dressed in their less respectable garments, to see what they could learn. The gossip is that a man answering Ludo's description of "the fancy man" has been fencing things in the foreign quarter.

Alfredus is very angry, and says that if he finds out the fancy man is targeting Ludo, the vigiles can have him after his arms are removed.

April 3 - Cast Divination this morning, to see whether the person who enchanted Ludo yesterday was going to attempt a similar crime today. Receiving an affirmative reply, I dressed as plainly as I could. Robyn went to an inn where day labor can be hired and rounded up enough able-bodied men to keep track of all the entrances and exits to the market, save one. We ourselves covered the entrance through which one would most likely go to and fro from the Foreign Quarter. It was a long, dull morning. In the early afternoon, however, one of the day laborers came to inform us that someone answering the desired description had just entered the market. I cast "status" on Robyn, and Alfredus, too, in case we got separated later. Agreeing to follow if Robyn left the market, we resumed our waiting about. I think I could get fairly good at skittles, if you didn't have to do that absurd thing with your leg when you throw the ball.

After quite some time, I became aware that Robyn had been wounded, and we proceeded forthwith to the area behind the public convenience, where we found Robyn and one of the day laborers standing guard over the unconscious form of one of the worst dressed people I have ever laid eyes on. He had been indulging an extreme bad taste with the proceeds of his ill-gotten gains. He had pulled a knife on Robyn, who had expeditiously pummeled him unconscious, without even the aid of a beer stein this time. When the vigiles arrived, he informed them that he had seen five children deliver items to him, and told them where on his person he had stashed the goods.

Not seeing any need for me to be further involved with the vigiles, or to risk being seen by someone who will go gossiping to Mother, I slipped quietly away and returned to Uncle's villa to deliver the good news to Greta. Robyn generously gave a gold piece bonus to each of the day laborers, so everyone is happy except the miscreant and the parents of the children he coerced - one of whom was a patrician, naming no names.

The miscreant, it turns out, knows no magic at all. He's a common criminal who obtained a ring with the power of enchanting children into stealing, delivering the goods to a certain place, and then forgetting all about it. A dangerous item, the secret of whose manufacture I devoutly hope is not widely known! I understand that the merchants took up a collection and rewarded Robyn with 500 solidii.