Cursed Objects | Finders Keepers
I landed on the rooftop and stretched my wings wide. It felt great to be out and about again. I had been quarantined for a month after my last find. It's one of the parts of my job that sucks. Well, when I really think about it, it's the only part that sucks. I am a Cursed Objects Finder at the New Houston Rookery, and I love my job. I think it is exactly what I was born to do.
Since I mentioned The Rookery, you are probably assuming that I am a Winger, and you'd be right. Others do work there, we don't hire based on race or anything, but while others have to apply there, Wingers always have a place. I appreciate that, and I know my parents do as well even though they both applied for and earned their jobs there. My parents picked up from their life in Germany and moved to New Houston so that I could attend The Academy at The Rookery in New Houston. There was, and is, a Rookery in Berlin of course, but at that time they did not have an Academy and after I sprouted my feathers and began molting my body hair, my parents thought it would be best for me to have a fresh start with new classmates. They were probably right. I do know I had a great childhood. The Academy is awesome and I highly recommend it to any Winger!
After graduating with honors, I had to pick either a career or more education. I love to learn so I went to college. I was told that Wingers cannot do magic, but I majored in magical theory, and the history of magic anyway, with minors in German, and Latin. What I learned is that Wingers can do magic. Only a few know that though. Our magic, being more central to our essence is more like the folk tales about hedge witches and baba yagas. We have the magic inside of us and we need to use more instinct and less ritual to guide it. We also have to be far more careful as we do use at least some of our own natural reserve to cast. I am writing my thesis on it while working as a Cursed Object Finder on the side.
Oh, did I mention? I am the only Cursed Objects Finder. It's a new position that Sals and I worked out and Emilia Koehler approved. As I began my Master's degree, I started to realize that I could sense a pull from magical items. To my eyes, they glow just a bit, and the colors vary slightly with the type of magic as well. This allows me to easily determine if an item is cursed. As far as I know, only mages have been able to determine that before and that was only if they cast a detect spell to determine its nature. Additionally, the only spells that cast for finding need specific instruction, so they could look for cursed items with specific curse types, but not just a general cursed item.
All of that means that I am in the unique position of being a Winger who can seek, and find cursed items. I believe that is because I am a Eurasian Magpie Winger. Having also researched a great deal about my own cross-species, I have determined that they are one of, if not the most, intelligent species, and they also have both the desire, and the knack to find shiny objects. In my case, shiny objects mean magical objects. When I realized that I had a knack for magical objects, and an interest in finding them, as well as the ability to identify cursed objects, I approached Sals with a proposition. I would find and retrieve cursed items, Class III and above if The Rookery would handle the paperwork and proper disposal.
While it may appear that I am getting nothing out of the deal, nothing could be further from the truth. I get to work on growing my magical abilities and skills while documenting and researching. I also have the full backing of The Rookery for the activity. They ensure that I am covered by all the necessary government paperwork for possessing Class III objects if I find them, and they ensure that the items, once found, are properly moved to the correct authority. I was allowed access to the Warehouse in order to refine my abilities. I now have about an 83% success rate with identifying cursed objects Class III and above, and I can discern the difference between Class I and Class II 97% of the time. That is a darn fine track record if I do say so myself [which I just did!].
The issues come in with the details of the curse. While I can tell you that an item is cursed, and at what class with the percentages I already mentioned, I am unable to discern more than the most basic nature of the curse. I am pretty good, 90% success rate, at determining if the curse is passive or active. Some curses will come for you while others lay in wait. That is a useful skill to have for sure! It allows me to determine how urgently I have to move to collect the item. An active Class III needs to be gathered immediately even if you do not always have the full protective equipment. At least I feel that way.
That's why I had to be quarantined after my last grab. I found an action figure near an elementary school playground that definitely pinged as Class III. There was no way I was leaving that around for some kid to find on its walk home! So no, I had no idea what it did at the time, nor did I give it much thought. I just wrapped my warded kerchief around it [I always carry that with me], and flew it to the Warehouse for research and safekeeping. It turned out that it was stronger than my warding. I didn't feel affected, but the alarms in the decon area went off almost when I walked in the door.
it was worth it though. It turns out that exposure to that object would lead to depression and suicidal thoughts or suicide. Who would do that to a kids' toy? Seriously! There are some sickos in the world, I tell ya. So I was on quarantine until they figured out that I was not contagious and then on suicide watch for another two weeks after.
Now I have been officially cleared and I have set aside three hours today to do a little searching. Okay, searching is a glorified term I suppose. Basically, I fly around whatever area I have picked in a grid pattern looking and sensing for anything that causes a ping. If I feel something, and I often don't, then I narrow it down until I find the object and evaluate the situation. If I can just report it for retrieval, I do that. If it's not safe, like in an open location where anyone could get it, or it's for sale in a store, then I collect it myself and deliver it to the appropriate authorities. So far this has worked out pretty well. In my four years of research, I have removed ten Class III objects from circulation and seventeen Class II objects as well. For clarification, yes, you can own and sell Class II items, but Class II items that are not properly cataloged and sold by authorized dealers and buyers are not legal. I don't go up to people who have them and ask, but if they are lying around without an obvious owner, I do collect them. No one who does not have the proper training to handle that sort of item should have easy access to them. Period. I've seen what they can do.
I chose an area downtown near The Burning Tower. I don't usually go near there because, well, there are plenty of mages there and surely they can look after their own stuff. I want to help, not go over ground that's covered every day. After a month off though, I just wanted to be sure I would see stuff to recalibrate, and mages are always carrying Cursed Objects. As expected, flying low and slow I got any number of Class II pings. As far as I could tell, they were all associated with people so as was protocol I let it go at identification.
I reached a small outdoor courtyard area with several cafes, restaurants, newsstands, bookstores, etc. There were enough pings here that I just landed and started strolling through the area. I didn't expect to find anything, but as I said, I wanted to calibrate and it was nice to be out. I stopped at a cafe and had a nice herbal tea out front. It even had a few Winger chairs so I was comfortable. I had set aside three hours today, so I was trying to decide if I should move to a different quadrant or go ahead with my last hour here when I spotted the used book store, Tomes for the Ages. Odds are that it was full to the brim with mage, or mage adjacent stuff [probably textbooks and stuff]. I probably already owned any of the useful ones, but it never hurts to look, right?
I entered the store and took a deep inhale. Gods I love the smell of used book stores! This one had narrow walkways and wooden shelves piled nearly to the ceiling. Some of the rows looked like they might be double layered and there were piles on some of the strategically placed chairs. A glorious, seemingly chaotic heaven of books.
I slowly made my way through the maze of shelves and books. Incantus by H. Barker, Seven Circles for Better Magecraft by T. S. Shireman, all of the usual titles one would expect this near the Tower. Then I turned a corner and found the more obscure tomes. They had some I hadn't seen before. Soon I had a stack building in my arms and I was still looking. This store was definitely going on my list of regular places to visit.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something sparkle and I turned my head. Oh no. The sparkle had the red overtones of a cursed object and the shade was a dark enough color that I knew it was most likely a Class III. It was shelved right along with the rest, and this was no authorized dealer. I don't think they know what they have on the shelves. This situation was a gray area. The book was right there on the shelves to be picked up by anyone, but the store wasn't busy and no one was in this area. I could grab it and buy it, but I have promised not to touch dangerous items if I don't have to. What to do?
Okay, there was at least an hour until the shop closed, and that would give the task force time to get here and seal the place up. That would keep down exposure until the item could be safely removed and the shop employees put under quarantine. Hopefully, the place had a good inventory system and they could help trace the item back to its original source so that any effects on the environment or individuals could be contained. If not, the place may remain closed for quite a while.
I took out my phone and hit the speed dial to the Warehouse.
"Hi Pica, what's up?"
"Hi Derek. I need a Class III item detail sent to Tomes of the Ages near the Burning Tower. I am in the back left corner in the Miscellaneous section and I have a Class III book in sight. And no, I haven't touched it."
"Glad to hear it! Wouldn't want to have to quarantine you again," he said with a chuckle. I swear these guys love to give me a hard time. It's not my fault I'm drawn to Cursed Objects!
"I will keep it in sight until the team arrives, and I will do my best to keep anyone from touching it until then."
"Got it. Tomes of the Ages on Thompson and 5th. The team is en route and should arrive within the next ten minutes or so. Be safe, Pica."
"Will do, Derek. Thanks."
I did my best to appear to be casually perusing the shelves, as I had been before I spotted the object. This should be an easy hand-off. Of course, just as I was thinking that someone came around the corner. It was a male, about my height with longish straight hair and dark eyes. The cowlick made a cute touch angling two strands of his hair nearly straight up. He had on the uniform of a student at the Burning Tower, and headed straight for the book!!! I had to act fast!
"Excuse me, do you work here?"
"Uh? No?" he said as he swung around quickly to look at me. He obviously hadn't seen me there. He started to turn back toward the shelf.
"Oh," I said, putting disappointment in my voice. "Do you think you might be able to help me anyway?" I used my most charming tone. He looked at me again, then at the book, then once again at me.
"Okay. I can try. What do you need?" I just needed to keep him busy for about eight more minutes!
"I was wondering if you could help me to choose between these two books." I held up two of my finds. Both were on rather obscure magical specialties. One was a discourse on the finer points of using magic for flight and one was on transformation and whether one could inherit the powers of what they transformed to, or if it was only the physical shape. To be clear, it is fairly established that transformation as we know it is only skin deep. This was about new theoretical magic that would if perfected, be a more substantive change.
He drew closer and looked at the two books. Then he looked at me. He read the blurbs on the back and the summaries that always start these sorts of books, then he looked at me again. He really looked at me this time. He took in the wings and the feathers and the coloration. It was more than that though.
"I can't imagine that you need the book on flight with those wings, and I cannot imaging why someone as beautiful as you would want to transform into anything else. Unless you just want to learn those areas for some reason, I'd say ditch them both."
He started to turn back to the shelf just as I heard the commotion up front. He must have heard it too because he turned back to the front. With a last glance toward the book, he headed toward the door.
"Did you know the book is cursed?" What?!? Where did that come from? Did I say that? Why did I say that?
"Yes," he said meeting my eyes.
"What did you want with it?"
"I was going to buy it and then take it to a safe house to keep it away from the unsuspecting, and even further away from those who might know it was cursed. You obviously knew too. Is that the Warehouse?"
"Yes. I called it in."
"Hopefully this one will stay there," he said cryptically and then headed for the door though he knew he would be stopped and his information taken in case follow-up was needed once the nature of the curse was discovered.
"Hey! Wait a second." I said, moving after him. "What's your name?"
"Kee. Kee Kranston."
"Kee. What did you mean when you said you hoped this one would stay in the Warehouse?" He stopped again, and once again fully turned to look at me. He took in all of me.
"What's your name?"
"Pica Benzer."
"Rookery?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Meet me at Morning's Glory in HQ tomorrow morning at 9 and I will tell you, Pica." And with that, he turned and left me standing there wondering if I had just become involved in a conspiracy, or asked on a date.
Since I mentioned The Rookery, you are probably assuming that I am a Winger, and you'd be right. Others do work there, we don't hire based on race or anything, but while others have to apply there, Wingers always have a place. I appreciate that, and I know my parents do as well even though they both applied for and earned their jobs there. My parents picked up from their life in Germany and moved to New Houston so that I could attend The Academy at The Rookery in New Houston. There was, and is, a Rookery in Berlin of course, but at that time they did not have an Academy and after I sprouted my feathers and began molting my body hair, my parents thought it would be best for me to have a fresh start with new classmates. They were probably right. I do know I had a great childhood. The Academy is awesome and I highly recommend it to any Winger!
After graduating with honors, I had to pick either a career or more education. I love to learn so I went to college. I was told that Wingers cannot do magic, but I majored in magical theory, and the history of magic anyway, with minors in German, and Latin. What I learned is that Wingers can do magic. Only a few know that though. Our magic, being more central to our essence is more like the folk tales about hedge witches and baba yagas. We have the magic inside of us and we need to use more instinct and less ritual to guide it. We also have to be far more careful as we do use at least some of our own natural reserve to cast. I am writing my thesis on it while working as a Cursed Object Finder on the side.
Oh, did I mention? I am the only Cursed Objects Finder. It's a new position that Sals and I worked out and Emilia Koehler approved. As I began my Master's degree, I started to realize that I could sense a pull from magical items. To my eyes, they glow just a bit, and the colors vary slightly with the type of magic as well. This allows me to easily determine if an item is cursed. As far as I know, only mages have been able to determine that before and that was only if they cast a detect spell to determine its nature. Additionally, the only spells that cast for finding need specific instruction, so they could look for cursed items with specific curse types, but not just a general cursed item.
All of that means that I am in the unique position of being a Winger who can seek, and find cursed items. I believe that is because I am a Eurasian Magpie Winger. Having also researched a great deal about my own cross-species, I have determined that they are one of, if not the most, intelligent species, and they also have both the desire, and the knack to find shiny objects. In my case, shiny objects mean magical objects. When I realized that I had a knack for magical objects, and an interest in finding them, as well as the ability to identify cursed objects, I approached Sals with a proposition. I would find and retrieve cursed items, Class III and above if The Rookery would handle the paperwork and proper disposal.
While it may appear that I am getting nothing out of the deal, nothing could be further from the truth. I get to work on growing my magical abilities and skills while documenting and researching. I also have the full backing of The Rookery for the activity. They ensure that I am covered by all the necessary government paperwork for possessing Class III objects if I find them, and they ensure that the items, once found, are properly moved to the correct authority. I was allowed access to the Warehouse in order to refine my abilities. I now have about an 83% success rate with identifying cursed objects Class III and above, and I can discern the difference between Class I and Class II 97% of the time. That is a darn fine track record if I do say so myself [which I just did!].
The issues come in with the details of the curse. While I can tell you that an item is cursed, and at what class with the percentages I already mentioned, I am unable to discern more than the most basic nature of the curse. I am pretty good, 90% success rate, at determining if the curse is passive or active. Some curses will come for you while others lay in wait. That is a useful skill to have for sure! It allows me to determine how urgently I have to move to collect the item. An active Class III needs to be gathered immediately even if you do not always have the full protective equipment. At least I feel that way.
That's why I had to be quarantined after my last grab. I found an action figure near an elementary school playground that definitely pinged as Class III. There was no way I was leaving that around for some kid to find on its walk home! So no, I had no idea what it did at the time, nor did I give it much thought. I just wrapped my warded kerchief around it [I always carry that with me], and flew it to the Warehouse for research and safekeeping. It turned out that it was stronger than my warding. I didn't feel affected, but the alarms in the decon area went off almost when I walked in the door.
it was worth it though. It turns out that exposure to that object would lead to depression and suicidal thoughts or suicide. Who would do that to a kids' toy? Seriously! There are some sickos in the world, I tell ya. So I was on quarantine until they figured out that I was not contagious and then on suicide watch for another two weeks after.
Now I have been officially cleared and I have set aside three hours today to do a little searching. Okay, searching is a glorified term I suppose. Basically, I fly around whatever area I have picked in a grid pattern looking and sensing for anything that causes a ping. If I feel something, and I often don't, then I narrow it down until I find the object and evaluate the situation. If I can just report it for retrieval, I do that. If it's not safe, like in an open location where anyone could get it, or it's for sale in a store, then I collect it myself and deliver it to the appropriate authorities. So far this has worked out pretty well. In my four years of research, I have removed ten Class III objects from circulation and seventeen Class II objects as well. For clarification, yes, you can own and sell Class II items, but Class II items that are not properly cataloged and sold by authorized dealers and buyers are not legal. I don't go up to people who have them and ask, but if they are lying around without an obvious owner, I do collect them. No one who does not have the proper training to handle that sort of item should have easy access to them. Period. I've seen what they can do.
I chose an area downtown near The Burning Tower. I don't usually go near there because, well, there are plenty of mages there and surely they can look after their own stuff. I want to help, not go over ground that's covered every day. After a month off though, I just wanted to be sure I would see stuff to recalibrate, and mages are always carrying Cursed Objects. As expected, flying low and slow I got any number of Class II pings. As far as I could tell, they were all associated with people so as was protocol I let it go at identification.
I reached a small outdoor courtyard area with several cafes, restaurants, newsstands, bookstores, etc. There were enough pings here that I just landed and started strolling through the area. I didn't expect to find anything, but as I said, I wanted to calibrate and it was nice to be out. I stopped at a cafe and had a nice herbal tea out front. It even had a few Winger chairs so I was comfortable. I had set aside three hours today, so I was trying to decide if I should move to a different quadrant or go ahead with my last hour here when I spotted the used book store, Tomes for the Ages. Odds are that it was full to the brim with mage, or mage adjacent stuff [probably textbooks and stuff]. I probably already owned any of the useful ones, but it never hurts to look, right?
I entered the store and took a deep inhale. Gods I love the smell of used book stores! This one had narrow walkways and wooden shelves piled nearly to the ceiling. Some of the rows looked like they might be double layered and there were piles on some of the strategically placed chairs. A glorious, seemingly chaotic heaven of books.
I slowly made my way through the maze of shelves and books. Incantus by H. Barker, Seven Circles for Better Magecraft by T. S. Shireman, all of the usual titles one would expect this near the Tower. Then I turned a corner and found the more obscure tomes. They had some I hadn't seen before. Soon I had a stack building in my arms and I was still looking. This store was definitely going on my list of regular places to visit.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something sparkle and I turned my head. Oh no. The sparkle had the red overtones of a cursed object and the shade was a dark enough color that I knew it was most likely a Class III. It was shelved right along with the rest, and this was no authorized dealer. I don't think they know what they have on the shelves. This situation was a gray area. The book was right there on the shelves to be picked up by anyone, but the store wasn't busy and no one was in this area. I could grab it and buy it, but I have promised not to touch dangerous items if I don't have to. What to do?
Okay, there was at least an hour until the shop closed, and that would give the task force time to get here and seal the place up. That would keep down exposure until the item could be safely removed and the shop employees put under quarantine. Hopefully, the place had a good inventory system and they could help trace the item back to its original source so that any effects on the environment or individuals could be contained. If not, the place may remain closed for quite a while.
I took out my phone and hit the speed dial to the Warehouse.
"Hi Pica, what's up?"
"Hi Derek. I need a Class III item detail sent to Tomes of the Ages near the Burning Tower. I am in the back left corner in the Miscellaneous section and I have a Class III book in sight. And no, I haven't touched it."
"Glad to hear it! Wouldn't want to have to quarantine you again," he said with a chuckle. I swear these guys love to give me a hard time. It's not my fault I'm drawn to Cursed Objects!
"I will keep it in sight until the team arrives, and I will do my best to keep anyone from touching it until then."
"Got it. Tomes of the Ages on Thompson and 5th. The team is en route and should arrive within the next ten minutes or so. Be safe, Pica."
"Will do, Derek. Thanks."
I did my best to appear to be casually perusing the shelves, as I had been before I spotted the object. This should be an easy hand-off. Of course, just as I was thinking that someone came around the corner. It was a male, about my height with longish straight hair and dark eyes. The cowlick made a cute touch angling two strands of his hair nearly straight up. He had on the uniform of a student at the Burning Tower, and headed straight for the book!!! I had to act fast!
"Excuse me, do you work here?"
"Uh? No?" he said as he swung around quickly to look at me. He obviously hadn't seen me there. He started to turn back toward the shelf.
"Oh," I said, putting disappointment in my voice. "Do you think you might be able to help me anyway?" I used my most charming tone. He looked at me again, then at the book, then once again at me.
"Okay. I can try. What do you need?" I just needed to keep him busy for about eight more minutes!
"I was wondering if you could help me to choose between these two books." I held up two of my finds. Both were on rather obscure magical specialties. One was a discourse on the finer points of using magic for flight and one was on transformation and whether one could inherit the powers of what they transformed to, or if it was only the physical shape. To be clear, it is fairly established that transformation as we know it is only skin deep. This was about new theoretical magic that would if perfected, be a more substantive change.
He drew closer and looked at the two books. Then he looked at me. He read the blurbs on the back and the summaries that always start these sorts of books, then he looked at me again. He really looked at me this time. He took in the wings and the feathers and the coloration. It was more than that though.
"I can't imagine that you need the book on flight with those wings, and I cannot imaging why someone as beautiful as you would want to transform into anything else. Unless you just want to learn those areas for some reason, I'd say ditch them both."
He started to turn back to the shelf just as I heard the commotion up front. He must have heard it too because he turned back to the front. With a last glance toward the book, he headed toward the door.
"Did you know the book is cursed?" What?!? Where did that come from? Did I say that? Why did I say that?
"Yes," he said meeting my eyes.
"What did you want with it?"
"I was going to buy it and then take it to a safe house to keep it away from the unsuspecting, and even further away from those who might know it was cursed. You obviously knew too. Is that the Warehouse?"
"Yes. I called it in."
"Hopefully this one will stay there," he said cryptically and then headed for the door though he knew he would be stopped and his information taken in case follow-up was needed once the nature of the curse was discovered.
"Hey! Wait a second." I said, moving after him. "What's your name?"
"Kee. Kee Kranston."
"Kee. What did you mean when you said you hoped this one would stay in the Warehouse?" He stopped again, and once again fully turned to look at me. He took in all of me.
"What's your name?"
"Pica Benzer."
"Rookery?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Meet me at Morning's Glory in HQ tomorrow morning at 9 and I will tell you, Pica." And with that, he turned and left me standing there wondering if I had just become involved in a conspiracy, or asked on a date.
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