Allen l'Saigner was born to a woman obsessed with death.
Narcissa l'Saigner lost her husband, Allen's father, five months before he was born. In a freak accident, he simply fell from a horse. Given her House, many suspected that Warren t'Salvatore was Narcissa's victim, but whether that proved to be true or not, she carried in her belly a child begot of the man she buried. In time, numerous things would come to convince Allen that his mother did not murder his father, but the first was simple: when she first held him in her arms, she did not look first at him, but for his father in him. It was the first of many such searching looks.
There are many worse fates than being born into House l'Saigner. Allen never wanted for anything as a child, and though the family was hardly extravagant, his wishes were met simply and directly. His immediate family was all female, his mother and two older sisters, and though Narcissa allowed herself to be courted, she never remarried. This was Allen's second clue that his mother had nothing to do with his father's death: she was seeking a man with a very specific set of qualities, and her requirements were extremely strict. Men were tested and found wanting, and Allen was no less subjected to testing for being her child.
Her tests were, at first, small things. A choice between selfishly receiving a personal reward or doing something to help his mother or sisters. A choice between being unpopular or doing what was expected of him. A choice between emotional satisfaction and pragmatism. He might not have even realized that his mother was manipulating him into these situations if she hadn't continued to look at him with that searching gaze. Allen felt a strong obligation to his family, a natural inclination magnified by his father's death, and so he worked hard to become the person she needed. Because that person changed from day to day and situation to situation, he learned to be many different people.
It was probably inevitable that this kind of upbringing would become too much to bear at times, and so Allen also began slipping out of the house from time to time. At first it was easy to do, and he reveled at the freedom. He loved being among the common folk, and played games with himself (and them) pretending to be one of them: a sailor's bastard, a merchant's brat, a carter's son. Once, while tailing a band of urchins, he learned about the 'other' streets of Lonnaire, the unnoticed ones overhead, where a boy could move from roof to roof. Over time, his attempts to escape the house became steadily more difficult, even though he continued to succeed. It took him a number of years to realize that his mother, noticing, had made this, too, one of his tests.
There are two other important things to note about Allen's upbringing. The first is that he seeking a male role-model, he came to idolize his cousin, Corvin. Six years Allen's senior, it was an ill-kept secret within the family that Corvin was training with House t'Corbeau, shining as one of the star members of the 'First Class'. Romanticizing the training and the glory of the Wraith's in ways only a boy can, he set his sights on following in his cousin's footsteps, an aspiration quietly nurtured by Narcissa.
The second is that he was tutored by a member of the One Faith's lay clergy. Brother Emmond was a pious and studious man with a desire to see reformation in the Church. He was also a kind man, and he and Allen grew to become friends, of a sort. He tutored Allen in religious lore in addition to academic subjects determined by the boy's mother, who disliked the friendship. In 1859, Emmond was called back to Sanctum. His time was almost done with the boy anyway, and he was quickly growing embroiled in politics in Sanctum, his name put forward to become the Abbot of his fraternal order.
Shortly after his twelfth birthday, Allen asked his mother to petition James to send him to train with the Wraiths in Three Rivers. Much to his surprise, Narcissa refused. At first, Allen was despondent and angry, but it soon dawned on him that this could very well be another of his mother's tests. Uncertain about how to proceed, he infiltrated her chambers and discovered correspondence on her desk from clergy in Sanctum requesting information that might assist in quelling the political aspirations of Abbot Emmond, information she did not have. Allen, however, had an idea. Quietly, he wrote to his mother's contact and, in exchange for promises for intelligence from Sanctum in exchange for his willingness to confess that Emmond had sexually abused him for years. It was a lie, of course, but one that would do irreparable damage to the reputation of his old friend.
Allen did not have to carry out his confession; the threat was enough to quell the betrayed Emmond's ambitions, and, true to their word, his contacts in Sanctum began feeding him a steady stream of information. Within three months, Narcissa, unbidden, petitioned James to send Allen to begin his training as a Wraith. It was granted.
Any illusions Allen had that he would be given special treatment as a noble and a l'Saigner was quickly crushed. With the other trainees, he was told that he would most likely die and that if he did not, he would become a Wraith. In Allen's case this threat was particularly great, for he fell squarely into the bottom half of his class with his physical abilities. What he lacked in strength and agility, however, he made up for with a keen mind, exceptional wits, and the ability to collaborate with his other trainees. This is not to say the sailing was smooth, he nearly died on several occasions, once in Three Rivers and twice in Blackfens. As he continued to prove himself, however, Talia, Corvin, and his other trainers allowed him to play more and more to his strengths. He began to focus his training on infiltration and working in urban environments where his natural presence and knowledge could prove a critical asset.
When the time for his final test arrived, Allen was given a very specific task. Money coming into Lonnaire from the Syndicate families of Pacitta seemed unusually low to James l'Saigner, who decided it was time for an unofficial audit. Asked to infiltrate one of the most heavily guarded warehouses in the port city, Allen succeeded in doing so and bringing back to his uncle several revealing ledgers. He was given full promotion to Wraith. His mother honored the occasion by giving him a gift that had once belonged to her father and remained in her care since his death, a lightsilver dagger.
Now, newly twenty years old and a Wraith, Allen is poised to serve his family and their liege, ensuring that their strategies pay off in the uncertain and shifting sands of this new peace.
