Difference between revisions of "Leaf Shakes the Wind"
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Our work came more naturally to Leaf than to any other mortal student I’ve ever had. Born fourth to a farming family in Incas Prefecture, he was nominally in Noble to help sell their produce, but the boy had already found an easier way to make the money his parents and sisters needed. He’d built a small network of children to whom he would give the food in his basket; in return, they acted as lookouts and distractions for him while he made his profits directly from the pockets other merchants and patrons in the market. He came to my attention when he lifted the purse and a series of scrolls from one of my agents; it took us four days to track him down the first time, and another two after that before we actually caught him. I hardly cared that the scrolls were still sealed, the money mostly unspent; the boy’s talents were far more valuable. | Our work came more naturally to Leaf than to any other mortal student I’ve ever had. Born fourth to a farming family in Incas Prefecture, he was nominally in Noble to help sell their produce, but the boy had already found an easier way to make the money his parents and sisters needed. He’d built a small network of children to whom he would give the food in his basket; in return, they acted as lookouts and distractions for him while he made his profits directly from the pockets other merchants and patrons in the market. He came to my attention when he lifted the purse and a series of scrolls from one of my agents; it took us four days to track him down the first time, and another two after that before we actually caught him. I hardly cared that the scrolls were still sealed, the money mostly unspent; the boy’s talents were far more valuable. | ||
| − | The reluctance of his family to let him go was short-lived in the face of the monthly stipend the boy earned as my apprentice scribe. He learned his duties, both seen and unseen, quickly, and within a year was already being deployed, his youth his greatest disguise. While he never took much to the combat training we tried to give him, he was particularly talented with poisons, and a simple needle could be as deadly in his hands a sword in those of a soldier. Equally prodigious was his ability to gather information; he seemed to | + | The reluctance of his family to let him go was short-lived in the face of the monthly stipend the boy earned as my apprentice scribe. He learned his duties, both seen and unseen, quickly, and within a year was already being deployed, his youth his greatest disguise. While he never took much to the combat training we tried to give him, he was particularly talented with poisons, and a simple needle could be as deadly in his hands a sword in those of a soldier. Equally prodigious was his ability to gather information; he seemed to simply create contacts around him from thin air, and even I sometimes found myself lured into telling more than I had intended when we spoke. |
I’m told he was killed while returning from his last assignment, but I have my doubts that he would be taken so easily, and faking one’s death is one of the earliest lessons we teach. However, the report that was found with the body satisfies my overseers for now, and they say we have too few agents to investigate the matter at this time. I don’t press the matter because I know Leaf; he was the most loyal agent I had, and if he has chosen not to return, I trust he has good reason. | I’m told he was killed while returning from his last assignment, but I have my doubts that he would be taken so easily, and faking one’s death is one of the earliest lessons we teach. However, the report that was found with the body satisfies my overseers for now, and they say we have too few agents to investigate the matter at this time. I don’t press the matter because I know Leaf; he was the most loyal agent I had, and if he has chosen not to return, I trust he has good reason. | ||
Revision as of 21:06, 30 May 2006
The Sappling
Our work came more naturally to Leaf than to any other mortal student I’ve ever had. Born fourth to a farming family in Incas Prefecture, he was nominally in Noble to help sell their produce, but the boy had already found an easier way to make the money his parents and sisters needed. He’d built a small network of children to whom he would give the food in his basket; in return, they acted as lookouts and distractions for him while he made his profits directly from the pockets other merchants and patrons in the market. He came to my attention when he lifted the purse and a series of scrolls from one of my agents; it took us four days to track him down the first time, and another two after that before we actually caught him. I hardly cared that the scrolls were still sealed, the money mostly unspent; the boy’s talents were far more valuable.
The reluctance of his family to let him go was short-lived in the face of the monthly stipend the boy earned as my apprentice scribe. He learned his duties, both seen and unseen, quickly, and within a year was already being deployed, his youth his greatest disguise. While he never took much to the combat training we tried to give him, he was particularly talented with poisons, and a simple needle could be as deadly in his hands a sword in those of a soldier. Equally prodigious was his ability to gather information; he seemed to simply create contacts around him from thin air, and even I sometimes found myself lured into telling more than I had intended when we spoke.
I’m told he was killed while returning from his last assignment, but I have my doubts that he would be taken so easily, and faking one’s death is one of the earliest lessons we teach. However, the report that was found with the body satisfies my overseers for now, and they say we have too few agents to investigate the matter at this time. I don’t press the matter because I know Leaf; he was the most loyal agent I had, and if he has chosen not to return, I trust he has good reason.
-- Iselsi Augus, Agent of the All-Seeing Eye
