wick and ipswich! wick runs a hidden magic item shop called "wick's wondrous wares" down by the docks, and ipswich is his... less than enthusiastic assistant.
wick's wondrous wares is a crowded space made hazy by incense smoke and scattered lanterns, packed with allegedly magical items of every shape, size, and purpose. (quality and efficacy may vary)
wick himself puts on a front of a mysterious mystic, a merchant from a far-off land who knows secrets about everyone who wanders in. he's really a scholar, cataloging enchantment methods from around sornieth- though, he is selling these items acquired by dubious means, so. he's a bit vain, very flirtatious, but overall a decent sort.
ipswich is having some trouble adjusting to their current circumstances. these silly land-mortal customs seem ridiculous. having to wear clothes in public? not solving every dispute with teeth? gender??? and they're just so much smaller. it's awful.
they're a grouch, and think they're above everyone, but they are having a good enough time sifting through this novel little trinkets wick presents to them. not that they'd ever admit it. all they want is for wick to break this stupid binding spell, so they can destroy this entire city and return to the depths. ugh. hurry up already.
whats the lore with ipswich being turned into a common dragon? :0 they seem super interesting
ooh they would hate being called 'common dragon' lol,, lore under the cut! and a reminder that my lore varies pretty heavily from canon, especially in its magic systems and views on non-dragon species
tl;dr ill-advised and unethical pokemon catching gets guy no one liked killed and now the pokemon's pissed, more at 11
so up until ~150yrs back, it was a pretty common practice among magic users to 'bind' creatures that were 1. more magic-based in their biology and 2. seen as "less sapient" than dragons. binding is basically tying that creature's essence to a container, to be let out to serve their captor. usually as bodyguards or servants, sometimes just especially flashy pets.
most of these creatures were things like imps and spirits, which have a similar intelligence level as say, a very vindictive house cat. the stronger/more skilled mages, though, would go after ""greater"" creatures, elementals and demons and monsters, some of which far surpassed their captors in strength and intellect but could still be caught in a binding spell.
(more meat-based critters like beastclans don't have enough magic in their systems to fall victim to these binding spells, and the fair folk are immune. trying to catch a fairy creature is a Bad Idea do not attempt.)
trade of these bottled beasties wasn't too common, actually- smaller critters could be traded without much issue, but clever ones could often make a break for it when the protection clause switched owners, and kill/maim all parties involved. plus, the kind of mages who really enjoyed this practice were both vindictive and paranoid, and feared sellers wouldn't transfer said protection clause. to be fair this did happen. often.
not too long before this practice fell out of use, it became trendy to make your bottled critters fight those of your rivals, and mages began to seek out rarer and more powerful creatures to ensure their victory and/or safety. like a very high-stakes and unethical pokemon battle.
the mage who bound ipswich was one of the most skilled and widely known beastkeepers at the time. he was also known to be a smug and overly confident prick who relied entirely on his "pets" to keep him safe- magically brilliant, but physically weak. ipswich never bothered to learn his name so i didn't give him one.
ipswich was to be his greatest prize- a terrifying eldritch creature brimming with arcane power, the greatest jewel in his crown. and he did manage to bind them! ...but he'd made a tiny mistake in that protection clause, the bit that prevents a creature from murdering whoever just bound them.
it kicked in just a moment too late, just after ipswich was wrapped up in the main spell, but before they were contained. that moment was more than enough for ipswich to swallow him whole. moron.
the practice of beast-binding didn't last long past this. not necessarily a direct result, but that this master mage died working on it definitely helped. too many mages had been immolated/shredded/melted/etc, and folks had kinda known that it wasn't ethical. in most places it's banned, in a few it's still technically legal but it's difficult to get your hands on the components, and it's a major career killer.
most bound creatures have been freed (in one way or another) in the past century, but ipswich's bottle only washed up very recently. that particular mage was especially paranoid, and his binding spells were written completely differently from anyone else's, and of course he never told anyone about it. so until wick can figure out how to break it without breaking ipswich too, they're stuck with him.
ipswich (understandably) holds a deep-seated resentment towards dragonkind in general. they hate all of this. but, land-folk food is good, if a bit overcooked. they like throwing fries for the seagulls (usually at people, so they get swarmed), and sea-storms from above the water are mesmerizing. and, wick is... interesting.
addendum: read the bartimaeus trilogy for more bastard mage vs dickhead captive spirit fun (it is a big insp for how i use magic in my various settings and also a very good time)
