exploratory kidnapping

[alicornucopia]

In this room are two women, one gray and sixty years old, one just thirty and red-haired, both wearing elaborate outfits. The younger casts a spell.

In this room is now also a third person. (On whom the elder woman promptly also casts a spell, which she had at the ready.)

Comments

[missnicegirl]

"Who do I talk to to find out who to talk to, then?"

[alicornucopia]

"The Dragon Council would know, if nothing else; I can loan you my crystal to them."

[missnicegirl]

"That would be helpful."

[alicornucopia]

Jensal goes and gets her crystal and hands it over. "Do you need me to explain how to use it?"

[missnicegirl]

Matilda peers at it. "I'm getting better at seeing wizardry," she says. "I just hit it with something and then it's like a phone?"

[alicornucopia]

"...I don't know what a phone is, but hitting it with something is the operation procedure."

[missnicegirl]

"Okay." She hits the crystal.

[alicornucopia]

The crystal rings. Someone answers it. "What is it?" they ask in Draconic.

[missnicegirl]

"Hello," says Matilda, also in Draconic. "I'm the person who figured out how to fix shrens, and I want to find out why dragon babies die a lot so I can fix that too. Do you know where I can find dragon babies to look at?"

[alicornucopia]

"...You mean, ones less than a month old, who might still die?"

[missnicegirl]

"Yes. That kind," she says.

[alicornucopia]

"You're just going to look at them?"

[missnicegirl]

"Yes. Until I find out why they die a lot, and then I will do magic to them so they don't," she says.

[alicornucopia]

"...My daughter has a clutch right now. Do you need their address, or...?"

[missnicegirl]

"Yes, please. Oh! And I think we also accidentally figured out how to make dragons stop dying of old age," she adds. "But we're not sure yet."

[alicornucopia]

"...That's also very interesting. We'll want to hear more about that later." The dragon rattles off an address in Gibryel.

[missnicegirl]

"Thank you," says Matilda. She hands Jensal her crystal back and teleports to the provided address.

[alicornucopia]

The provided address is a cute little townhouse painted periwinkle.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda knocks on the door.

[alicornucopia]

A fellow with golden eyes answers the door. He seems surprised to see a seven-year-old girl on his doorstep. There is a baby dragon wrestling with his hair. He estimates her likely ethnic background based on incorrect assumptions and says, in Kandaph, "Are you lost?"

[missnicegirl]

"No," says Matilda, in Draconic. "I'm here to look at baby dragons and try to find out why they die so much so I can make it stop. I have a lot of magic."

[alicornucopia]

The man squints at her hair when she starts speaking Draconic. "...Okay..." He gestures at the baby dragon on his head.

[missnicegirl]

"I can't tell anything weird about that one... can I look at more? When baby dragons die is it very sudden and inexplicable like old age, or does it happen some other way?"

[alicornucopia]

"The others are napping. You can come in. They... they cough, and they don't stop coughing until they stop breathing," he murmurs, motioning her inside.

[missnicegirl]

"That's not like old age, then. I might still want to try giving them magic transplants if I can't see anything weird about any of them," she says, lowering her voice on account of napping babies as she comes in.