They are as follows:
"Swan's Braid", first published in Swords of the Rainbow, 1996 (collected in Stealing Magic, 1999)
"In Mysterious Ways", first published in Bending the Landscape, 1999 (collected in Stealing Magic, 1999)
"The Lions of Al'Kalamir", first published in Stealing Magic, 1999
"Sometimes, Just Because", first published in Relative Magic, 2003 (collected in Stealing Magic, 2005)
"The Things Everyone Knows", first published in Under Cover of Darkness, 2007 (collected in Finding Magic, 2007)
Tropes:
General tropes
- Action Girl:
- Swan is a tough female mercenary captain who leads other mercenaries in a group called the Wing. When introduced she's just coming back from killing a gang of bandits.
- Terizan is a skilled female thief who gets accepted into the Oreen Thieves Guild by getting into the leaders' sanctum without being stopped. No one else had ever managed it before.
- Affectionate Nickname: Terizan's best friend Poli always refers to her as "sweetling".
- Ambiguously Gay: Terizan's best friend Poli is a male sex worker who's effeminate, very fashionable, wears makeup and he has a slightly catty manner. He gives her advice, a makeover once and has no sexual or romantic life on page, in spite of his profession. It's only ambiguous as he's never explicitly said or shown to like men, though quite strongly implied from all this.
- Ambiguous Gender: Tribune Two, who's one of the Thieves' Guild's leaders, could be a man or woman, Terizan isn't sure. Called an "androgyne" once, they are never given any pronouns.
- Anti-Hero: Terizan is a professional thief, but does good when faced with a choice of something worse and she selflessly helps thwart far worse people on multiple occasions.
- Band of Brothels: The Oreen prostitutes' guild is apparently the best in the city.
- Boyish Short Hair:
- Swan is a Butch Lesbian warrior with short blond hair.
- Terizan, a tomboy lesbian thief, also has short dark hair herself it turns out.
- Butch Lesbian:
- Swan is a short-haired lesbian who's a rather masculine warrior as well.
- Terizan, the lesbian protagonist, is a tomboy who isn't described as much but probably also falls into this, with short hair herself.
- Fantastic Naming Convention: Most people in Oreen have names with a z included, whether as part of their personal or family name.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Kerbers seem to be inspired partly by the Amazigh (formerly known as Berbers) and Arabs, given that their people have Arabic style names, with them living in the desert. One group of them, the Kalazmir, are also ruled by the Kalamir (amir is "prince" in Arabic). However, they are described as having lighter coloring than what's common for Arabs or Amazigh. Kerbers wear robes, like many Arabs or Amazigh often do. One must have Kerber ancestry to wear them, like Swan. Like both Arabs and Amizagh, their people have tribes too.
- Fantasy Pantheon: People in Oreen worship many gods, all with their different temples and clergy. Some of them are small gods, less powerful overall. To get more power, one's followers collect others' icons through stealing them, but Terizan thwarts the plot. Later, she actually meets one goddess, Ayzarua the Gateway of Death while inside the Necropolis.
- Heroic Fantasy: This is the genre of the tales. An Anti-Hero, Terizan's good at heart and prevents greater harm in spite of her profession. All the problems she faces affect Oreen (or her) alone, with the action never moving beyond the city.
- Land of One City: Oreen, the city where all these stories take place, is a city-state.
- MacGuffin: Every story involves Terizan being contracted to steal something, which helps to spark the plot.
- In "Swan's Braid" she's ordered to prove herself by taking the titular item from Swan for entry into the Thieves' Guild.
- "In Mysterious Ways" has Terazin is tasked with stealing the Eye of Keydi-azda by her superiors in the Thieves Guild, which is an object sacred for the deity Keydi-azda... from his temple. She agrees reluctantly.
- In "The Lions of Al'Kalamir" she's hired to get the Kalazmir royal regalia from a maze (though it may not be technically stealing).
- She is hired in "Sometimes, Just Because" to steal an object which will break a curse which causes hot weather from a wizard. However, then it turns out she's after the wizard himself-who's been transformed into a doll.
- "The Things Everyone Knows" sees her ordered to get information on a conspiracy against Oreen's government. She complains this isn't strictly stealing, but does it anyway.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Terizan is a tomboy lesbian thief who's best friends with the effeminate Ambiguously Gay Poli, a male sex worker.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The Thieves' Guild's three Tribunes (leaders), keep their names secret, going by Tribune One, Two and Three instead.
- Private Military Contractors: Swan is a mercenary, and leads a whole band of them called the Wing. They were hired to track down and stop a bandit gang in "Swan's Braid", coming back triumphant. Swan was also hired to fight in the Kerber civil war before the events of "The Lions of Al'Kalamir", helping turn the tide for her employer.
- Punny Name:
- Swan's band is called the Wing.
- The new god Cot'Dazur's name is very close to Cote D'Azur, the French Mediterranean coast.
- Supernatural Sensitivity: Terazin is able to sense magic, but not work it herself. It comes in handy during her thieving for escaping magical traps.
- Sympathetic Magic:
- Terizan is careful to leave nothing that is connected with her behind in "The Lions of Al'Kazamir", as a wizard could use it for tracking her down otherwise.
- She gets new equipment to steal from a wizard in "Sometimes, Just Because" as those which she's touched more often will have her "essence" which could be used for locating her.
- Thieves' Guild: Terizan joins up with the Oreen thieves' guild by getting into their sanctum without being caught, something no one ever managed before. Their leaders, the three Tribunes, are quite impressed and offer her membership immediately. No thief is deemed worthy if they can't find its hidden headquarters by just looking on their own before sneaking in. The Tribunes continue to appear, with each story being set off by them giving Terizan an assignment.
- Title Drop:
- In "Swan's Braid" Swan's braid is an item she wears that Terizan tries to steal as a test. It's specifically her "life-braid", a good luck charm. It's called this before she tries multiple times.
- In "The Lions of Al'Kalamir" the lions of Al'Kalamir are mentioned several times. It's revealed they are the warring princes themselves.
- Unproblematic Prostitution: Poli is a male sex worker who seems entirely content with his life. It's probably due to sex workers having a guild that is apparently the best in the city, and protecting their members well.
Swan's Braid
- And Then What?: Swan wants to behead Councilor Saladaz at once after learning he'd tipped off the bandits she went after with her band the Wing, since she lost many people taking down his gang. Terizan asks her what happens after that, noting Swan will be arrested since they don't have proof, and more of her people would die trying to free her. Swan then agrees to get proof with Terizan's help.
- Corrupt Politician: Councilor Saladaz turns out to have been an accomplice of the gang Hyrantaz led, giving them tips with part of their loot as his reward. Two other Councilors were as well, with all three beheaded after it's found out.
- Decapitation Presentation: Swan delivers the heads of the notorious bandit leader Hyrantaz with his followers to the ruling council of Oreen, after having hunted them down with her mercenary band the Wing.
- Exact Words: The Thieves' Guild asks Terizan, as an initiation test, to bring them the braid of the mercenary Swan. Terizan is enamored of Swan and doesn't especially want to do this, and wants to do it even less after she and Swan team up to take down a treacherous councilman, but she does very badly want to join the Guild. So she has Swan accompany her to the guildmasters, braid still attached.
- Has a Type: Terizan watches Swan and notes that she only takes slender, brunette women to bed. It turns out to be subverted as Swan was tracking down a woman of that description who tipped off the bandits she went after, she's not into those women specifically.
- Honey Trap: Terizan decides to have sex with Swan after seeing she only beds slender brunettes, fitting the description herself. Afterward, she can steal Swan's braid. However, it turns out Swan anticipated something like this and she catches Terizan in the act.
- Mistaken for Murderer: Swan mistakenly thinks Terizan is an assassin sent after when the latter tries to steal her braid and draws her dagger for this purpose while she's pretending to sleep. They soon clear this up however.
- Off with His Head!: Swan beheaded the bandits whom she tracked down with her band. Later she also wants to behead Councilor Saladaz after discovering he aided them. He is beheaded with two other Councilors for this later.
- Sex Goddess: Swan is apparently quite good in bed given Terazin's happy reflections on it after they have sex.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: Terazin goes to Swan's room with her, then it cuts to after they have sex in bed together.
In Mysterious Ways
- Corrupt Church: The clergy of the god Cot'Dazur, who's just beginning to get worshipers in Oreen, are very power-hungry. In order to get Cot'Dazur more worship, therefore increasing their power, they have all other gods' icons stolen as these are the focus of people's beliefs.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: The gods gain strength the more worship they get. Given this fact, the clergy of new god Cot'Dazur decide to get more power by having thieves steal the icons from all other gods since people focus their belief on these. Terizan realizes this and foils them, stealing the icons back which she puts back into their original temples.
The Lions of Al'Kalamir
- Civil War: Terizan is hired by Swan to help stop one by two brothers who both have claims to the throne of the Kalazmir through retrieving the royal regalia which mark the rightful heir. However, at the end she all but insures another one by setting them against each other again in revenge as both had betrayed her.
- Exact Words: Essien promises that anything inside the treasure vault is Terizan's if she retrieves the royal regalia. There is nothing else. She uses this to rescue his brother Jameel, whom he orders killed however, as she brought him out with her from the vault.
- Red Light District: The Street of Pleasures in Oreen used to house its main brothels, but must have moved. Poli, a sex worker, lives in the vicinity.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Jameel tries to kill Terizan by locking her inside the treasure vault after she saved his life three times before. Luckily, she's got an escape route prepared.
- Verbal Tic: Any time either Swan, Essien or Jameel mention the late Prince Hasan they add "may he rot in the Netherhells".
Sometimes, Just Because
- Curse: A wizard in Oreen has cursed the city with hot weather, the Council is told by his servant. To break this, Terizan is hired for stealing the object which focuses this, a "curse anchor". However, it turns out this isn't the result of a curse-the servant wants her for another curse which affected her master.
- Dark World: Terizan goes into a parallel world like this via a Magic Mirror, where she enters a version of Oreen that's (almost) completely empty and gives her unsettling feelings at once. She is hunted there by an invisible pursuer before too long.
- Forced Transformation: Thieves caught by wizards get turned into mice, before being eaten by cats. It turns out that the wizard Terizan was tasked to rob was himself transformed into a doll by something that came out of his mirror.
- Mage Tower: The wizard Terizan is tasked with robbing lives in a tower. It turns out once there were two more wizard towers, but both were destroyed during a mysterious storm.
- Magic Mirror: The wizard has one that lets someone move into other worlds. However, it works both ways-something came out of the mirror and turned him into a doll before taking him into another world. Terizan's sent in to get him back.
The Things Everyone Knows
- The Bus Came Back: Councilor Saladaz, who'd been the villain in the first story, "Swan's Braid", turns up again here as a ghost organizing a secret society to get revenge on the Council for beheading him because he had been in bed with bandits.
- Illegal Religion: Worship of Death itself has been banned in Oreen by the Council as rival sects caused trouble centuries before. Now only Ayzarua, who is the Gateway to Death, can be legally worshiped as she's different enough. Her followers maintain the Necropolis.
- Last-Second Word Swap: Terizan switches from calling the Tribunes' plan for her "stupid" to "strange" in mid sentence so they're not mad at her.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Here, it's common for them to hang around near where they're buried and speak to people who come by. As a result, the Necropolis in Oreen is haunted, with people avoiding this at night. They can't move outside though, as the goddess Ayzarua who is the Gateway to Death keeps them there unless their bodies are moved. Ghosts don't move on into the afterlife like Ayzarua wants as they still have earthly concerns keeping them bound here.
- Psychopomp: Ayzarua, goddess of the Gateway to Death. She guides the dead into the afterlife, though some won't go willingly and stay here as ghosts, annoying her.
- Unfinished Business: Terizan repeatedly comes across the ghost of a weaver in the Necropolis who's agitated at the idea of someone else using her loom, convinced it will be damaged. Much more serious is the ghost of Councilor Saladaz, who's plotting revenge from the grave on the Council for his own beheading.
