I am a circlemaster of the Ghosts, the eyes and ears of the Emperor of Nighmar, and we hunted a gang of Istarish slavers employed by a renegade necromancer named Maglarion. We tracked Maglarion to a ruined villa in the hills, and found that he had killed his slaves and used their blood to fuel his necromantic experiments. All save one.When I found Caina Amalas, she was a wisp of a girl, half-starved, half-crazed, and I had no idea what to do with her. I thought to have one of the Ghosts’ friends among the nobles adopt her, or perhaps to give her to the Temple of Minaerys as an initiate. Then I realized that she had gotten out of her cell without any help. A starving girl of eleven, half-mad from grief, and she got out of her cell without any aid. I learned she had a keen eye for detail. She realized things about my companions, about myself, simply by looking at us and making deductions from our appearances. Her mind was keen, and I aimed to make it sharper yet.So I did it. Part of my service to the Emperor is to seek out skilled men and women to bring into the service of the Ghosts…and so I deliberately took a girl, still crushed by grief from her father’s murder, and molded her into a weapon.
