Postby Pallas » Thu Dec 09, 2021 2:47 pm
And this is what I should have said - ‘Hold on a part-marc before you sign those papers. Do you have no words of advice? Can you not at least show me how to use a lockpick, or open a sealed door?’
I had my papers and had decided on the path I wished to follow. But I knew very few people in the lands, having spent my time hunting and learning, visiting a town only to see a trainer and sell what loot was in my pack before buying potions and doing it all again.
I spied a rogue in Milltown, and asked how I could set my feet on the path he followed.
‘Come with me,’ he said.
I did so, and entered a temple in the desert. He took my papers, signed and returned them to me, saying ‘You are now a rogue.’ before he left.
We met by chance a couple of cycles later. He did not know who I was…
I taught myself what I needed to know, and hunted out the secret paths. And I learned how to use a second blade for both attack and defence. I swore that any who asked my assistance to enter the profession would be taught thoroughly before we set foot in the temple so that they would not leave unprepared for the life they had chosen to follow.
It seems to work. I will teach, and advise. But I will not simply sign another’s papers. Those I have taken to the temple have accepted the sessions with good grace so far as I can tell. And they’ve stayed awake, too, while I speak. Or at least they’ve not snored loudly enough for me to notice!
It’s always been a matter of pride for me, and hopefully also for them, that they leave the desert temple much more knowledgeable than I did.
The joke is on the bloke who never spoke a word at all
But whose dreams lay unrevealed 'til they were rotten ...
Lindisfarne 'The Things I Should Have Said'