I
think this is from the description of Kender from the 1e Dragonlance 'world'. An heirloom (my turn to misspell
), in a Kender town/house, is any object that's been in the same house more than 3 weeks.
Think of Kender as permanent children,
small children! They're utterly fearless, they simply don't understand the concept. They'll pick up and walk off with anything that's not bolted down, unless of course that Kender has a crowbar with him (another mis-quote). On the other hand, calling a Kender a Thief is a nearly sure-fire way to pick a fight with one. They have an innate ability, the
Taunt, which allows them to basicaly irritate the **** outta anyone/thing they want to use it on. And, if I'm not mistaken, they tend to forget things about 15 minutes after they've occured, especialy the 'bad stuff'. I suspect this is part of why they never learn the meaning of Fear.
In summation: Having a (well played) Kender in your group is a lot like having a niece/nefew/cousin of about age 4, just physicaly a bit more mature, with you in your adventuring party. The key is that
(s)he'll never grow up! This 'never' assumes (s)he somehow survives the perils of the dungeon, and/or the rest of the players by the end of that night of course...
Hatchling Dragon