Thuneton was some forty years older than Spoder, a deserter from the Glaundian army. He said little about himself, but one day he told Spoder the story of how he and three others had managed the near impossible: an escape by boat from the mainland of Sudmaieure. They had been chased by an escouade of black caps in a power boat, but managed to elude them when a bank of fog drifted up from the frozen coast. After a chaotic and almost disastrous landing on the shores of an island called Luice, he too had wandered for many years from one island to the next, in constant fear of his life. Finally, here on Manlayl, he married. He was now naturalized as a citizen serf of the island. His wife had died, but he had three islander children, all now adults. He said that because of his approaching old age the threat to him from the black caps was minimal, and if he was found by them the havenic laws would protect him.

Thuneton explained to Spoder why he believed islands like Manlayl were mostly safe from the escouades. Almost all the deserters fleeing from the actual war tended to fan out in an ever widening northerly direction. Islands to the west and east of this huge area were relatively unvisited by fugitives, apart from people like himself who had been on the run for many years. Most of the Archipelago was of course outside the escape sector.

Manlayl was one of those islands, but not, according to Thuneton, sufficiently far away to be completely safe for a young man travelling alone. To the black caps he would be an obvious target.

A few weeks after this, Spoder decided to forgo the scenic beauty and pacific lifestyle of Manlayl, and put more distance between himself and risk of capture. He travelled south and west, heading down into the equatorial zones.

After two more years of travel Spoder came at last to the Salay Group. The ferry took him to the port in Salay Ewwel, the first, where he had discovered ahead of time that there were plenty of opportunities for work. After his many adventures across the islands Spoder had decided what he wanted to do: his travels had made him resourceful, self-sufficient and able to think for himself. He had worked in dozens of different jobs, most of them menial, but now he wanted to put his skills and abilities to use. He had had first-hand experience of policing work, most of it on his behalf, through his contact with the various shelterate laws on different islands. He had formed a strong wish to join the force with the aim of becoming a detective. He moved to Raba, where he made the mistake of lying about his background, but he was accepted and began the training scheme.