Swamped

You notice that the quiet kid seems even more nervous than usual.

"Something wrong, kid?"

They don't answer, unsurprisingly, and Ash quickly steps in.

"He's been raised in a city that worships a man who calls himself 'the Master'. Apparently, the people of that city are considered 'blessed' and this blessing involves not allowing them to speak and not allowing most people to speak to them, which is why they're called the Silent Ones. So, basically, every time you or I talk to him, he's terrified. It goes a lot better if Carma talks to him, since he still recognizes her as important."

"That gives me a lot of questions, but as far as why this kid's having so many problems, it explains a lot," you say. "Saw more than a few like this in the Marshguards. They were raised as servants to very religious noble families, taught a lot of rules, and obedience was the biggest thing to them. Mantis tended to handle them, but I heard a few stories about his overall technique."

"Do we really have time to give this kid therapy?" Ash sighs. Gods, that's so typical.

"Gotta start somewhere. Let me try something, all right?"

Ash just shrugs.

"It's not like I have any better ideas."

The way Mantis handled kids like this was, he realized that they needed rules to understand the world. So he gave them a bunch. The thing was, a lot of the rules didn't make any sense. It was just a way to get them back on their feet for a while.

Then, after he thought they were ready, he'd arrange a situation where they couldn't help but break one of his nonsense rules. He'd show up just as they realized what they'd done, and he'd tell them that it was all right. The rule didn't really matter.

Thing is, that takes time. Months, sometimes years. Mantis said it was a matter of trust, fundamentally. Do it too soon and they'll believe your made-up rules over you, and they'll end up worse than when they started.

And you just met this poor kid. You do want to help, but it's not going to be quick. And in the short term, you just want to get him communicating.

Well, you've got the start of an idea here. The only thing this kid knows how to do is obey rules. So if you want to get him to do anything, you need to give him a rule. That's what he understands.

How can you best make use of that?