Gudy asked for his points story, and I'm paraphrasing, how did the Teacher find the twins, and how did Teacher decide to sponsor them for the Temple? He gets two questions for all the work he does in the wiki, but I reserve the right to answer in two parts. Here's part one, part two to follow soon.

Long, long ago, not long after men began reckoning years from the day of Temmin the Great's death, the Keep was still a small stone fortress, and the forest around it had just been named the King's Woods, for kings were new in Three Mountains. In these woods was a little sapling, and to this sapling one day came a figure in long black robes. On this little sapling was a spot where a knot would one day form, and to this spot the black-robed one affixed a little silver mirror. Long, pale fingers sketched a glowing gold sign over it, and then the figure disappeared in a swirl through the mirror itself.

Spokes passed, then decades, and then centuries. The sapling grew into a mighty tree, and the knothole grew around the mirror until it was hidden inside. Still, if you knew to look for it, you could see yourself inside the knothole--if you knew to look for it. The mirror never faded, nor did it crack; it remained as shiny as the day it was made.

It was at this mirror that a gray eye peered in increasing irritation this day in 982. Suddenly, the mirror began to mist over; the owner of the eye stepped back. A swirling mass passed through the mirror, out the knothole, and coalesced into a handsome young man with rusty hair and pale blue eyes. "Well?" said the Teacher.

"We found them," said Connin, panting. "Give me a moment." He propped himself against the tree.

"Is it that taxing these days for you to come through a mirror?" said the Teacher, arching a brow.

"What? Oh, no," said Connin, grinning. "I was leading the bouncers on quite the merry chase. Took me a while to find a good reflection. Apparently they took exception to someone just appearing in their midst and fondling the merchandise without payment. There," he said, standing up and straightening his waistcoat. "Better. After all, you can't send me into a whorehouse and expect me to leave the whores unmolested."

"You didn't—-" said Teacher with a slightly horrified expression.

"Of course not! I've had 'em in singles and pairs and groups, I've had 'em male and female, but I've never had 'em before their time. Nothing less likely to attract my interest than a child, in fact the mere idea is enough to keep my pecker in my pants for a good week."

"A whole week. You surprise me." The Teacher watched as Connin sat down on a nearby downed log and began paring his nails with his knife. "And they're what we were promised?"

"To the letter," said Connin, "but you know Mama's never wrong about these things. Wait until you see them, they're astonishing. I suggest you go collect them right away, though. Their mother left quite the debt, or at least that's the madam's story. She's raking in the gold--no silver for twins this rare, and this young. If you don't fetch them now, they'll be quite ruined very soon."

Teacher nodded. "What are their names?"

"Obby. Issak and Allis Obby. They're at Mistress Polls' place in the brothel district of Belleth Town, a very fine establishment, really, quite high tone, and patronized by the best of society. Been going there since not long after her grandmother opened it a good 60 years ago, and they've made a right go of it."

"I would hardly call a house that whores out children 'a very fine establishment,'" said the Teacher grimly.

"Not their usual thing, you know," shrugged Connin. "Merely taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Oh, don't purse your lips at me like that, not even you can deny the way of the world."

"In this, at least, I can." Teacher walked to the tree and peered through the knothole. "Show me Mistress Polls of Belleth Town." The mirror shimmered for a moment and the image of a carefully dressed and arranged, very respectable-looking middle-aged woman appeared. She was sitting at a desk going over the accounts, or at least that was the impression she gave as she peered at a ledger book through a pair of round spectacles. Teacher reached through the mirror, to coalesce on the other side.