Tollyn Maeryn Pykplucker

The Pykplucker
Rhyfler Cariad has been her regiment’s Pykplucker for the entirety of her service. Her job is straightforward: when HQ sends orders via messenger pykpyk, the little squirrels know where the unit is supposed to be, but not where they actually are. The pykpyks arrive at the assigned grove or barn or copse of trees, deliver their cylinders, and wait for someone to come collect them. That someone is Cariad. She waits at the gathering point, collects messages and makes sure those messages are routed to the right company. As the regiment gets further from each gathering point Cariad leaves a new scent trail as she follows the regiment along. She keeps a satchel full of treats to keep the squirrels patient, and has a remarkable tolerance for being scratched by tiny claws when she retrieves their message cylinders.

The work is unglamorous and essential. Cariad knows every pykpyk by sight and most by name. The official records track them by leg-band numbers, but Cariad calls them Whiskers and Patches and Old Stubborn and Likes-To-Bite. The pykpyks know her, trust her, and occasionally bring her things they've found on their travels. From buttons, to bits of foil, and what they think she might like to snack on and once a Coftyran unit patch that turned out to be useful intelligence.