Swamped

This man still has a message for you. The last time you asked, he didn't seem to know what it was.

But now, for the first time, you can get a good look at his face. And you think you understand. You've seen a sailor with a face much like his.

A sailor who had to flee from the Guild, leaving his family behind.

Children that young who get mixed up with the Guild tend to end up as couriers. Which is another word for a messenger.

Right now, he seems dazed. Probably by all the ether flowing through him as you try to keep him here and they try to pull him back. Maybe you can work with that.

"Boy!" you say. "Have you a message for me?"

The man looks at you. He seems a bit confused, but he pats his pouch.

"Right here," he says. He reaches in, and looks baffled.

"I thought it was here. Maybe I hid it in a deeper pocket?"

He starts rummaging around, and soon pulls out a folded piece of paper.

The last message he was to deliver before he left his old life. You imagine it's something of importance to him, so you think you'd best not hold onto it too long. Instead, you just look over the message and commit it to memory before handing it back.

"Thank you. Go ahead and keep that, it's of no use any more."

He looks like he's about to say something, but then he vanishes. Leaving you only to ponder the strange message that the Mantiss family wanted delivered to someone named Alexander Long.

You write it down while it's still fresh in your mind, and then look over the message again.