Glipper's father Emer left when he wasn't even born yet, and his mother, Wyam, clearly resented Glipper's presence. It didn't leave much for him, wandering the world on the back of a woman who referred to him as a lodestone. He took to taking care of himself: picking a pocket or two for spare change, to get food. That sort of thing. He knew he should find other ways to handle it, but he didn't know how.

And so it was that one day he tried to pick the pocket of two gormless boys, and one of those gormless boys turned out to have an eye sharper than aneedle: Roan Asher knew every trick in the book.

"You're a bit young for this, aren't you?" Roan had asked.

"Not as young as I look! I'm a footpad, we grow slowly!" he countered.

"Where're yer parents, laddiebuck?" the big one demanded.

"Umm, some place nearby," he had tried.

The two gormless lads shared a look, "You seem pretty good with that accent. Can you speak other languages?" they had asked...